Getting 'caught' is the crime

People who go out 'for a drink' make the conscious decision to compromise their senses and therefore they must accept the consequences of their actions even more willingly than those to whom things happen accidently or inadvertently.

Check out Neil's video clips from the Caribbean

People who 'go out drinking' are invariably chastised for what happens to them as a result of the alcohol they consume, not for the act of pouring it down their throats. Sportsmen are accused of being irresponsible because they flirt with other people's wives, or they become involved in a fight, or they say rude things to their fellow revellers.

Andrew Flintoff and his fellow bingers were taken to the cleaners earlier in this tournament by the English press because 'Big Freddie' did something stupid by commandeering a pedalo at 4.00am and then falling off it and endangering his life. The irony is that at least half a dozen members of the English media were having a drink (or fifteen) alongside the English players.

It seems ironic that it was English supporters who made a fuss of Flintoff's behaviour but not nearly as ironic as the fact the South African supporters felt fit to draw the greater public's attention to the fact that Smith and several of his players were out until late in the night, or early the next morning to be more precise, following defeat to New Zealand in Grenada.

Although this is written in the immediate and glorious aftermath of a stunning victory over England, it has been written here on enough previous occasions for people to know exactly where this column stands on the subject of sportsmen 'letting off steam' as Graeme Smith so slickly and cleverly described it as before the England match.

Whilst I understand the frustration and even anger of supporters who have being saving up for over a year to get to the Caribbean to watch South Africa win cricket matches and then to see them drinking until 4.00am, they have no idea what it is like to carry the weight of expectation exerted by a nation as rabid about sporting success as South Africa.

The most ardent of those supporters and the more wealthy have travelled to the Caribbean for as long as three weeks - I have not met anybody staying longer but perhaps there are a few. Those fortnighters coming to the end of their stay have, invariably, been looking forward to getting home. Two weeks is a long time away from the comforts of home.

Smith and his team have been away for seven weeks - with the possibility, hopefully the prospect, of two more to come. If they don't allow the accumulated tensions to escape sometime, somehow, they will go mad.

I wonder if the man who telephoned radio 702 to complain about the team's late night drinking in Grenada knows that the entire Australian team were given a three-day break in the middle of this tournament to help them cope with, and recover from, the endless cycle of practise, travel, hotel and media commitments. And guess what?! Australian players have also been seen out very late at night drinking rum punches and anything else they could get their paws on.

So don't make the mistake of blaming South Africa's players for drinking or staying up late at night when the real complaint is that they didn't win.

I wonder what the view of Smith and his players would be at home if they went out until 4.00am once again after the nine-wicket thrashing of England?

If they became embroiled in a fist-fight, or were photographed exposing their bums or becoming excessivly tangled up with semi-naked women, then there would be reason to consider disciplinary action.

But if they simply did what they did in Grenada, and were able to remain in control of their compromised senses, then what on earth is all the fuss about?

In fact, if that's what is needed to help defeat Australia in St.Lucia next Tuesday, I'll happily buy the first round. Doubles all round.