Arrogant, dictatorial, controlling, disrespectful, hypocritical, responsible for the normalisation of verbal abuse and turned a blind eye to bullying.
Monday's scathing independent review, which painted a grim picture of Cricket Australia's culture and its link with the environment in which Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft erred, was impossible to spin as anything but a bouncer barrage.
The Ethics Centre's 145-page report, a seminal document compiled after CA asked the think tank to conduct a full and frank assessment after the Cape Town cheating scandal, produced 42 recommendations after polling 469 people in the industry.
It detailed CA's failings, some of which were said to be unintended consequences resulting from the 2011 Argus review that was compiled to address poor on-field performance.
The report highlights concerns about the "commercialisation of cricket", "winning without counting the costs" and "multiple instances of disrespect running through CA", noting "perceived causes of the ball-tampering incident at Newlands significantly overlap with the perceived current state of cricket in Australia".
CA chairman David Peever, who refused to stand down once again, pointed to positives and vowed good would come from the 42 recommendations.
Chairman David Peever says he does not intend to stand down despite a poor independent review of CA. Source: AAP
Peever conceded "we didn't put sufficient emphasis on the spirit of the game in our pursuit of wanting to be the very best we could on the field".
"That's been recognised and we're using the report now as an opportunity to do better," Peever said.
Peever's problem is there are so many areas in which his under-fire organisation needs to do better, according to stakeholders.
The Ethics Centre called for a revamp of winning bonuses, which will now be discussed between the governing body and players' union, a rejigged code of conduct and greater transparency.
Every recommendation has either been accepted by CA's board or is under consideration, with the exception of a request that Test and ODI players are excused from playing Twenty20 Internationals to ensure they are available for at least two Sheffield Shield games and one grade game per summer.
The review was ordered after the ball-tampering scandal involving Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft. Source: AAP
Other recommended measures include empowering umpires to remove players from the field for sledging, that players penalised for on-field behaviour should not be eligible for awards like the Allan Border Medal, and that formal leadership training be provided so players can improve their "capacity to display moral courage".
The review also recommends the minutes of CA board meetings are published (subject to issues of confidentiality) and for sledging to be included under CA's anti-harassment code.
The report's executive summary is damning, suggesting "CA is perceived to say one thing and do another".
"The most common description of CA is as "arrogant" and "controlling". The core complaint is that the organisation does not respect anyone other than its own. Players feel that they are treated as commodities," it notes.
"The ball-tampering incident ... can be seen as an aberration. It can be dismissed as the failure of a handful of players.
"However, to think this would be mistaken."
The report also critiques CA for its "consistent failure to hold players accountable" and "lack of appropriate sanctions", observing "incidence of verbal abuse extends beyond player behaviour".
"A culture of disrespect for the opposition, as seen in the common practice of abusive sledging, runs through Australian domestic and international cricket, to a degree not practised by other nations," it notes.
"There is nothing enjoyable or fraternal about abuse. It is simply crude and brutal."
