It means what is done is not fair, that it is not right to cheat. Playing cricket means playing fair. That everything is above board. In recent weeks we have come to learn that cricket as has been played for some years now has not been above board, that players have been cheating, that matches are 'fixed', that neither victory or defeat has any meaning, that players have been 'bought' and results have been manipulated. And all for money.
Cricket is peculiarly an English game.
Not even Scottish or Irish or Welsh. It is English and cricket has invariably been associated with gentlemen. To play according to rules was to play like a gentleman. It was playing cricket. Unfortunately cricket is most susceptible to cheating precisely because cricket, as has been said by so many, is a game of chance.