Play Abandoned #22 - We Hate Ricky

An interesting observation by Thomas Hunter over at Crikey regarding public attitudes to the man holding the highest public office in Australia - the captain of the Australian Cricket Team. Cricket is a game of numbers - a statistician's orgy - so it was interesting to see a collation of numbers courtesy of Mr Hunter from some online polls regarding the Australian cricket team. Hunter rightly points out the unreliability of voluntary online polls, but even so, the sentiment is rather staggering. The Age asked 'Are Australian cricketers bad sports?' to which 76% agreed. The more parochial Herald Sun asked 'Should Ricky Ponting be sacked as captain of Australia?' to which a staggering two-thirds, or 67% - 6958 votes - agreed. The Hun's sister paper, the Daily Telegraph, posed the question 'Do the Australian team play in the true spirit of cricket?' A suspiciously similar number, 6918 votes, said no, which equates to 82% of respondents. The considered folk over at Today Tonight asked: Do you think Ricky Ponting should be removed as Australian cricket captain? 28% agreed. Pay-as-you-go Foxsports offered three answers to it's 'Has Australia's behaviour in the current Test series changed the way you will support the team?' Yes: I will no longer support this side romped home with 61.8%, or 5342 votes, while 'Yes: but I still love the baggy green' lagged third on 11.63%, or 1006 votes; while 'No: I think their behaviour was appropriate:' captured 26.56%, or 2296 votes. Of course you'd think you'd have to allow for the participation of cricket fans from the subcontinent, who are unlikely to hold Mr Ponting in high esteem, but nonetheless these are pretty damning numbers. Hunter's contribution was somewhat more useful than that of Geoff Lewis Raglan who, in a letter that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 22 under the sub-headline 'Mongrel goes missing' wrote:

The Indians and the media had cricketer A. Mongrel dropped from the Australian XI and they lost. The same player was not selected in the Wallaby World Cup team and they lost.

Lewis may wish to reflect on the fact that A Mongrel is an insecure little bully who shouldn't be on the sporting field in the first place - and if winning means winning ugly, then it is no victory at all. In the meantime the Third Test in Perth was a cracker. With a highlight being Sharma having R. Ponting all over the place, the first time I've ever seen him batting like that. Ponting looked all at sea against the young Indian quick - weaving, leaving, missing and taking a few on the body before edging to first slip. With the series at 2-1 to Australia, there is a lot to play for in Adelaide. If the Indians finish this series 2-2, with a moral victory in Sydney, they will be well set to roll Australia in India this September. There is no doubt Australia missed Hayden, who was suspiciously omitted after the shenanigans in Sydney. The godbotherer was officially out with a bung leg, but was fit enough to go deep sea fishing the day after the 'injury'. But the Indians bowled better, and batted well when it counted. A spirited rear guard action made the final day's play a riveting spectacle. Adelaide, a city not known for its excitement, could be a defining moment - not just for this summer, but also for Australian cricket. If the Indians win, it could mark the end of an era.