What's the big deal say players, everyone does it. G.R. Viswanath once recalled Ian Botham to the crease in Mumbai when he felt he was not out and made our hearts swell with pride, so what if Botham went on and won the match for England. Today we'd sneer if an Indian captain allowed that. Somehow decency and the desire to win are seen as conflicting virtues. What would they say if you told them that in the late 1980s at the French Open, Mats Wilander, who was match point up, overruled a line call in his opponent's favour.
Basketball players believe 'trashing' a fellow player confirms machismo.
They feel respect is a sign of weakness. Soccer captains like Roy Keane of Manchester United display leadership by verbally attacking an umpire, spitting invective and bile on him, and then being contrite only after days of criticism. No one's saying that sportsmen of the past were angels. Cheats and poor sports and intemperate behaviour is not the exclusive preserve of any generation. Gamesmanship, for instance, was alive even when W.G.Grace played.