The dangers of social media

With social media increasingly becoming an important part of our world, it is only inevitable that cricketers, and their dirty laundry, are aired more frequently in the public domain. The recent Twitter spat between sports journalist Malcolm Conn and Australian batsman David Warner is just another example of this unfortunate phenomenon. Richard Hinds in his column for Sydney Morning Herald, uncovers why cricketers feel the need to resort to social media to publicise their grievances.

As strange as it might seem, most sportswriters would prefer to be confronted by a red-faced player or coach screaming invective than the modern equivalent: A tremulous message from a disempowered club "communications officer" who assumes we are as terrified of a disgruntled superstar as they are. Who surmise, often incorrectly, that we would be mortified to learn that "Nathan wasn't too happy with what you wrote at the weekend".