PLAY UP! PLAY UP! AND PLAY THE GAME! (weekly poem)

PLAY UP! PLAY UP! AND PLAY THE GAME!

(With apologies to Sir Henry Newbolt)

In a Test Match against South Africa, The Australian CaptaIn,

Steve Smith and vice-Captain, David Warner, both admitted to

ball-tampering and were sent home and banned for 12 months.

Play up! Play up! And play the game!

And tamper with the ball;

Such cheating is the price of fame,

And winning now is all.

Yes, victory is everything,

And the cash nexus reigns; (1)

As ‘sportsmen’ hear the gate-tills ring,

And gloat about their gains.

Sport now reflects these modern times,

As everything these days;

Is nothing, lest it fully chimes,

With money-grubbing ways.

It’s on the take—they’re on the make,

The richer they become;

They want a bigger slice of cake,

And not a measly crumb.

The truth is, they don’t give a damn,

As nothing now is free;

And they see sport as one long scam,

And one big juicy fee.

The sporting side of sport’s been lost,

It worships dollar bills,

But some of this comes at a cost,

And mirrors social ills.

The purpose now in sporting life,

Is having a head start;

With the pretence that drugs aren’t rife,

And playing a clean part. (2)

Thus sport, today, primarily,

Is one vast empty shell;

That is stagnating, verily,

And sweat is not the smell.

(1) Sports psychologist, Dr Ian Maynard, states money is the main

cause of cheating which is more widespread than people believe.

(2) British sportspeople never, of course, use drugs.

© Richard Layton