Play Abandoned #21 - The Beginning Of The End

In hindsight this was always bound to happen sooner or later. I remember watching how the Australian cricket side carried on over the last decade and thinking 'one day the rest of the world is going to get sick of playing these wankers'. Well, that day has come. And India, with 70% of the world's cricket revenues, looks like taking it's bat and ball and going home. For Australian cricket this is a disaster. A lot of this began under Alan Border, a man who learnt humility the hard way - by getting flogged - but it accelerated under Tubby Taylor (who at least had a bit of dignity about him) before it soared to new heights under the coaching of that nazi Buchanan, to the point where Ponting now defends winning ugly. When even Shane Warne is saying you need to learn some humility, as he did prior to the Indian series, you know that there is a problem. Years of arrogance is coming home to roost this afternoon, when we find out what the Indians intend to do. Even if Harbijan did call Symonds a monkey, so what, Ponting overreacted by having him charged. At that stage in the game India were on top and the whole thing smacked of sour grapes. That Harbijan had Ponting's number in the first two tests just adds to the murk - it looks like Ponting has gone hell bent on having the guy rubbed out. Then we get to the disciplinary hearing that comes down to the Indians' word versus the Australians' word, and match referee Mike Proctor lumps for the Australians. Obviously the white man is more trustworthy than his sable brethren. The reaction of Clarke isn't even at centre stage here, and the mediocre umpiring is a sideshow to this, but these, along with the Australians' reaction at the close of the test, are a symptom of the greater malaise that infects Australian sport across the board. It's probably best summed up by that godbotherer Hayden crossing himself like Saint Francis while churlishly disdaining any good words about his opponents' cricket. His reaction during the first test that the Indian spinner 'stole' wickets sums up his ungenerous, grasping triumphalism. The sad thing is that so many Australians will not see anything wrong with this sort of behaviour. They too have become infected with the infantile braggartedness of a 14 year old bully. They live their lives and dreams by proxy through the experiences of cocooned and spoilt elite sportsmen who swagger like so many pint sized Liberty Vallances around a hall of giants. From Greg Norman through to Lleyton Hewitt we are lumbered with this white-bread jackasses that, in the scheme of things, have done nothing worth a fraction of what they are paid. They are not heroes but insecure little losers. They win by theft and discriminating thuggishness. They look, and are, ridiculous. As Peter Roebuck points out, it is possible to love a country and not it's cricket team. There are many Australians that are heartily sick of these prima-donnas. Roebuck has called for Ponting to be sacked. I wouldn't stop there, but sack them all until we find an XI that can play with a bit of humility and grace.  
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