In the last ten years of international cricket, Australia has remained near invincible. It is a champion team consisting of players who would be among the best players in any era in which they choose to play. Unfortunately along with this universal dominance there is also the fact that no other team has been more universally despised. Is this a case of sour losers or do the Aussie baiters have a point? After all, the West Indies cricket team dominated the scene through the 70’s and most of the 80’s. Sure people were frustrated with the sheer inability of players to face up to the rampaging giants but no one ever cast an aspersion on their on field behaviour.
For years under the guise of playing hard, uncompromising cricket they have gotten away with sledging and getting under the skin of the opponents. Some would argue it is within the rules of the game. I do not agree with that but if it is within the rules of the game who am I to squirm and scowl. The problem arises when you cannot take back what you give. Each time the opposing team mirrors the Aussie behaviour on the field, things get a bit edgy out in the center and usually end up going out of control. It is this attitude that irritates people. Perhaps a bit harsh but great fast bowler Wasim Akram has gone to the extent of calling the Aussie cricketers cry babies. Does he have a point? If the Aussie cricketers feel free to sledge away to glory they must be prepared to get back what they dish out.
Ricky Ponting has been lambasted even by some Australian cricket writers for his brash and abrasive conduct. He refuses to have his and his team’s integrity questioned. We are told that his word must be taken and trusted. Ricky Ponting literally gave a decision against a batsman in the match after taking Michael Clarke’s word, the same guy who refused to walk after virtually square cutting the ball into the hands of first slip.
These double standards have flustered cricket lovers across the world. The greatest tragedy of the situation is that a marvelous cricketing side is not recognised for it’s sheer talent and class. This era of cricket has seen some greats such as Warne, Ponting, McGrath, Gilchrist who will go down in the annals of history as legends but unfortunately history will deliver a fractured verdict on this team. An Invincible team or just bullies on the field?
Under the ‘great’ leadership of George Bush, America is no more than an irresponsible superpower. An establishment drunk on power, enamoured by double standards and one that manages to hurt and violate sentiments across the spectrum. That should not be how Ricky Ponting and his men must be remembered. They are an amazingly talented cricket side and they must aim to win over their detractors by playing good hard cricket in the true sense. The non cricketing antics on the field should be left for backyard cricket.
Sridhar Natarajan
P.S. If Harbhajan Singh actually made the remarks then he deserves to be punished. The same standard of circumstantial evidence must be applied in the hearing against Brad Hogg.
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5 users responded in this post
I think this response must also be taken from an Australian perspective.
The Australian cricket captain is one of the most highly respected positions, and Ricky Ponting has continually gained the respect and admiration of everyone in this country. When people accuse him, they accuse us as well. This causes some angered comments to be said as well as blindly following our leader.
I do not believe that racial comments should ever be used, on or off the cricketing field, and all players who use them should be punished.
I cannot recall many occasions in the past decade when such controversial on field actions have occurred, and because in Australia it is only the opposition who is focused on by the media, it seems that this is a one off case - and the actions and behaviour of a team should not be based on a single day’s play.
Whenever such cases arise, each team vehemently defends itself. It becomes a questions of national pride. We still don’t know what the truth is besides trusting Tendulkar’s statements. With the ICL and IPL, it will be intersting to see how similar situations will be handled when no countries are involved.
The thing i find most disgraceful is when the Australian (dont remember his name) admitted that he knew that he was out but then refused to come off the pitch. he then had the balls to announce it, i believe that he should be punished for this because it is CHEATING and if Ponting wants his team to remain honorable he should punish him for this action. I am from the west indies and have seen several calls that have gone against us but we never have demanded that a Umpire be removed from that game , that is unfair because of this series we may see where other teams who may believe that they are being treated unfairly may try and do the same. This is one of the worst series that i have ever seen in the game of cricket
a couple of points -
1. only an umpire can give a player out certainly not any player on the field
2. Brad Hogg was not accused of racial abuse .. just abuse (a bit of a difference in my opinion)
stop the hysteria … get on with the game
A few things:
Firstly, racism can be defined by the behaviour of the Indian crowds during Australia’s tour. Our crowds may have a few bad eggs as do all crowds but we never have an entire crowd calling a dark skin player a “monkey”. That disgusting behaviour is uniquely Indian and is the impetus behind what happened during the second test. If you want to give Aussies a bit of stick on the field that is fine, we can give some back. Imagine however if we had fifty thousand people chanting and waving banners calling the Indians “curry munchers”, “towel heads”, or worse? That is the equivalent of what the Indian crowds did to Roy. So damn right he wasn’t going to accept that starting up again by Singh or any other Indian players.
Secondly, the entire cricketing world saw what the term “cry baby” means when the Indian team used it’s financial pull (through TV rights) to either get what it wanted or to go home. You had an umpire removed (and face it - what side hasn’t had a string of bad calls from umpires in ANY tour?), and you effectively said that Singh gets off the racism charge or the whole team aborts the tour. During his appeal they really played the drama queen card by chartering a plane and flying back to Adelaide ready to go home as soon as they didn’t get their own way. A juvenile display if ever there was one.
So there we have it. The Indian cricket team are seen as gods back on the sub continent and to get beaten in the test series was a huge blow that needed covering up. This was done through “tall poppy syndrome”. I’m not saying we are faultless throughout all this, but the Indian media and Indian citizens hyped this up to purely villify Ponting and his team (I mean come on - who burns effigies in the street over a sports result???!!).
Unfortunately the loser in all of this is the game of cricket itself. I now know where the money is, and so where the power is - India, and they will abuse that to get what they want. Luckily I still have local cricket at the local town pitch to watch.
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