McTag wrote:Hey what's this about Ozzie cricketers complaining about sledging?
Did they get upset? Awwwww, the diddums.
I thought Ozzie cricketers invented it?
Huge controversy here!
Perhaps even Olga has heard of it.
Sack Australian captain Ricky Ponting! Sack Hayden and Gilchrist. Michael Clarke should never be captain. Shoot the bloody lot of them.
Send the racist Indians home.
Kill the referees. Impeach Steve Bucknor.
Stuff the International Cricket Council.
It's the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald, as well as the front of the sports section, attracted a quite biting editorial, and a squillion letters. The morning tv programmes are full of it.
Obviously a quiet news period.
Suspect the whole thing has raced out of control. I can't see any sort of peaceful resolution at this point.
It is weird. It's seems to have snowballed exponentially.
It was weird that Ponting made an official complaint, but it wasn't the verbal abuse, it was the perceived racism.
Snippets of the story so far.
ICC introduces more explicit racial vilification laws (in response mainly to crowd behaviour in many countries, including Australia).
Andrew Symonds on tour in India is subjected to 'racial' abuse by crowds in Mumbai (Chants of 'monkey' - for those who don't know Symonds is a dreadlocked English born Australian of West Indian descent - and a bloody good cricketer).
At some point on that Indian tour Harbajahn Singh called Symonds a monkey too. An unofficial agreement between the captains saw that the matter was taken no further on the proviso that it 'would never happen again'.
Shoot forward to Sydney test, Symonds has played a key role in saving the Australian first innings after not being given out on what seemed a clear dismissal.
During the Indian first innings Singh is batting, takes a run, and, according to Symonds, touches/taps/pats/hits Brett Lee (the bowler) on the butt with his bat. Symonds says to Singh something along the lines of 'That's not on, pull your head in (expletives possibly deleted)'. Singh calls Symonds a monkey. Captain Ponting reports it to umpires, umpires report it to match referee, hearing called for after the test, Singh suspended for 3 tests. India appeal (threatening to call off their Australian tour).
Cricket commentators are all over the place on this one:
Seeing Harsha Bogle explain that 'monkey' is not a racist term in India, but rather one of bemused affection (as in 'you cheeky little monkey') made me squirm given the context the term had in Mumbai.
Greig being unable to see the distinction (or importance of the distinction) between verbal abuse and verbal racial abuse was unsurprising given his birthright.
Gideon Haigh having a go at the Australians for their celebrations in winning the test was amazing (even I jumped up on my feet such was the unexpected victory).
Taylor made the point that in effect Ponting had opened Pandora's box because his team is arguably the most abusive and could face a welter of countercharges (but I'd argue that he too has missed the distinction, in ICC rules, between abuse and racial abuse).
I wonder what was going through Singh's mind? I wonder now whether Indian team management has succumbed to a feeling of 'everything's rigged/everyone's against us, don't you realise we are not a colony any more, we are an economic powerhouse destined to overtake china, we will not turn the cheek any more, and in any case - we will run cricket from now on (read up on the 20-20 superleague)'. It seems petulant. It also seems reminiscent of the debacle between Pakistan and England and Daryl Hair last season.
Some of the actions post match are weird. How would Indian fans have reacted if Oz journalists had accused Kumble of cheating? Australian journalists are shredding the Australians for boisterous appealing on the last afternoon ignoring that 24 hours before the Indians were appealing on every ball, because they were desparate to win too.
It's hard to see how we got here and its hard to see how we back out.
On field I thought there was a camaraderie between the players, and the Indians especially made the point of congratulating Australians at the end of innings, or sessions.
I like Ishant Sharma. Poor bugger, what a debut test.
<Gotta be quick. On the run. Heading off to the country today.)
... but I've gotta say, as a non-cricket enthusiast with little knowledge of recent goings on, it seems pretty strange that someone should be penalized in such a way for calling someone else a "monkey". (Is that actually racist?
) And that just about everyone in Oz & India is so highly excited & outraged about it all! Wow! Amazing! And I thought it was a boring game!
Just goes to show, Olga
Ain't boring no more.
It was a good game, with a couple of unsavoury incidents.
It's the Indians burning effigies stuff that gets to me. That's just absurd.
Sheeesh! you people. It's a game!
Yeah, but Margo, it wasn't like a huge crowd flooding the streets, I counted maybe 15 guys - I'm sure we could round up 15 guys from a pub to burn an effigy of just about anything.
I guess when your population cracks a billion you have a sizable group of every type of nutter (even though the proportions are the same).
You know how we've go that one serial pest (name?)? well, by my calculations they must have 300.
I did see an Indian commentator early in the series say that, by rights, the two top teams in the world should both be Indian (based on number of players).
Here's a good old fashioned sledging match from a few years back. These new guys don't know the meaning of the term
Mark Waugh & Adam Parore: Waugh standing at second slip, the new player (Parore) comes to the crease playing & missing the first ball. Mark: "Oh, I remember you from a couple years ago in Australia. You were sh*t then, you're f***ing useless now." Parore (turning around): "Yeah, that's me. And when I was there you were going out with that old, ugly slut. And now I hear you've married her, you dumb f***!".
What about Glen McGrath and Sarwan. Or Lehman and the Black Cats...
Still nothing from dadpad - and he hasn't picked up my pm.
The aliens must have got him!
Dutchy wrote:margo wrote:Still nothing from dadpad - and he hasn't picked up my pm.
The aliens must have got him!
I was afraid of that.
Last post 12.15am Monday morning.
And then the lights came!
margo wrote:Huge controversy here!
Perhaps even Olga has heard of it.
No need to attack the ignorant! Fair go!
But honestly, margo, how could I
possibly miss this? There is absolutely nothing else in my paper today!
You tragics (in both countries) sure do take this game seriously!
It'd be good if someone could explain just
why to those of us who are mystified. :wink:
msolga wrote:
But honestly, margo, how could I possibly miss this? There is absolutely nothing else in my paper today!
Nothing else! But Nicole Kidman's pregnant!
Surely there's that!
margo wrote:Dutchy wrote:margo wrote:Still nothing from dadpad - and he hasn't picked up my pm.
The aliens must have got him!
I was afraid of that.
Last post 12.15am Monday morning.
And then the lights came!
Did you see his last post? Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:45 pm Subject: Going Nuclear!
Enough reason to be an alien target.
margo wrote:msolga wrote:
But honestly, margo, how could I possibly miss this? There is absolutely nothing else in my paper today!
Nothing else! But Nicole Kidman's pregnant!
Surely there's that!
True. And that is really, really exciting!
I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am about that!
I thought Nic and Tom adopted because they couldn't have children - now they both have biological kiddies. I have to go a doctor or dentist's surgery and read some old magazines.
hingehead wrote:I thought Nic and Tom adopted because they couldn't have children - now they both have biological kiddies. I have to go a doctor or dentist's surgery and read some old magazines.
It is a
far more sinister story than that, hinge! Your understanding is merely the tip of the iceberg! (I've spend time in doctor's waiting rooms, too. Obviously I wait much longer than you do!
)
Our Nic went through hell & back with Tom & his .. er ... "religious convictions"!
Thank the goddess she's now found a good Aussie fella to settle down with!
That girl deserves our sympathy & admiration!
(I can't explain the "biological kiddies", either, hard as I try to understand!)
What importance is Nicole Kidman's reproductive state to any of you people? I mean, REALLY?
Tigershark wrote:What importance is Nicole Kidman's reproductive state to any of you people? I mean, REALLY?
Ah, Tigershark, you really think we are absolutely, earnestly serious in this discussion? I hate having to spell things out, but we're just having a wee bit of fun.
