ARN hit for six: Cricket Australia to pull advertising following Intern Pete stunt

Cricket’s ball-tampering scandal has dominated the news cycle for the past week and is showing no sign of fading away.

And it’s not just Steve Smith, Dave Warner and Cameron Bancroft who are counting the cost of events in South Africa. Australian Radio Network has also been swept up in the maelstrom thanks to the Intern Pete incident.

Peter Deppeler has received a barrage of criticism and abuse for his #MAFS stunt during Smith’s media conference last Thursday night – some of it from former network personalities.

to the nob from Kyle & Jackie O who asked that ridiculous question, wait until you are utterly broken as a human being and think back to this moment.

— lehmo (@lehmo23) March 29, 2018

He’s even received death threats.

“It wasn’t my intention to make light of his personal situation, but to show him that the millions of Australians who aren’t obsessed with cricket empathise with him,” Deppeler told News.com.au. “But timing is everything and, on reflection, it wasn’t the best time to ask that.”

Now, ARN may also be counting the cost of Deppeler’s antics. Cricket Australia has announced it’s pulling all advertising in the wake of the stunt.

It’s unclear how heavily Cricket Australia invested with ARN or whether it’s just a short-lived gesture, but it’s clear this saga isn’t going anywhere fast.

It may pay for ARN to do more than issue a clumsy media statement.