Another hollow victory for Australian cricket
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Can there have been a more hollow win in Australian sport? From day one to day five, the second Test match at the SCG was rotten to the core, tainted by appalling umpiring, bad sportsmanship, sledging and, finally, a suspension for racism. The chain of events that led to Australia’s ‘’triumph’’ over India, starting with the howlers afforded Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds on the first day, was so embarrassing, it was cringe-making. Indeed, the Australian victory was so fortunate that it, and the team’s much-trumpeted 16-match winning streak, should forever carry a giant asterisk alongside it in the record books: (*achieved with the help of incompetent umpires and the Australian players’ own double-standards.) Our reputation for sportsmanship and fair play has taken a battering in the process. Around the world, we are seen as overbearing bullies who happily dish it out on the field but squeal when other teams, such as India, find the gumption to give it back. If you think that’s an exaggeration, take a look at international cricket websites, such as Cricket365.com and cricinfo.com, and gauge the reaction of the world cricket community to the Australian win. There will be one or two Indian supporters among that lot, to be sure, but just dip your toe in the water there and get a feeling for how the Australian team is viewed out there in the real world, beyond the Channel 9 commentary box, beyond the Cricket Australia offices and beyond the Fanatics’ watermelon helmets. Even, I suspect, a significant measure of the Australian sporting public will be sitting back today and thinking: fair crack of the whip, did those Indians cop the rough end of the pineapple yesterday or what?
For Anil Kumble and his men, the injustices kept piling higher. Consider a few of them: - Ricky Ponting stood his ground after gloving a catch down the legside in the first innings. Thirty or so runs later, he had the temerity to glare at the umpire and mutter under his breath when he was on the wrong end of an equally incompetent decision. Sorry, Ricky, old mate, but you can’t have it both ways. Cop it sweet and p-ss off back to the pavilion. - Andrew Symonds was gifted 131 runs after being given a reprieve by Steve Bucknor’s well-documented shocker in the first innings. Bucknor added to his Aussie run tally in the second innings when a Kumble skidder thudded into Mike Hussey’s pad, just above the ankle while the left-hander was trapped on the crease, and replays clearly showed the ball would have hit leg stump, and probably middle and leg. Mr Cricket went on to add another 120 or more to his tally. Ponting’s first innings bonus included, that’s close to 300 runs gifted the Australians. - Wonderboy, and future Australian captain, Michael Clarke cuts his first ball in the second innings straight to slip off Anil Kumble and stood his ground, the peroxide-blond punk challenging the umpire to raise his finger - which, thankfully, he did. This enraged Kumble, the Indian skipper, who in complaining after the match about the Australians’ poor sportsmanship, said: “That said it all.’’ Then, at a crucial moment on the last day, Clarke claims a catch at third slip off India’s Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly, mindful of the Australians’ very rubbery morals at times like this, rightly stays in his crease. Umpire Mark Benson does not appear to consult his square-leg colleague, the embattled Bucknor, but accepts the word of Clarke and Ponting, who helpfully indicates with a raised finger his verdict. Benson gives Ganguly out, although TV replays are inconclusive. How the hell are Clarke and Ponting to be trusted in such circumstances? Another nail in the Indian coffin. - Then, when things get really tense in the middle session, the Australians went up as one in appealing for a caught-behind decision against Rahul Dravid, India’s most obdurate batsman, even though his bat was tucked behind his front leg and the ball clearly flicked his pad. Even goody two-shoes Adam Gilchrist gets caught up in the moment and leads the appeal from behind the stumps. Bucknor raises his finger and the Indians are once more dealt a blow, this one mortal. So the sense of injustice in the visitors’ dressing room was acute, and understandably so. Most Australian players believe luck evens itself out over a career, but that philosophy is not shared by all visiting teams. Every summer, the complaint is the same. The touring team leaves these shores feeling dudded - from the English last season to South Africa the year before to Pakistan three summers ago when their coach, the late Bob Woolmer, reckoned Australia received almost six times more line-ball decisions than Pakistan during the 2004-05 series. Yes, the Australians have got their 16 straight wins, and congratulations to them for that. But who can really take any joy from what transpired at the SCG over the past five days? |
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54 Comments
Alka, I agree - all for the 16th victory record. and Ponting says post-match, that it wasn’t even in his mind. Yeah Right! Chronic liar, that Ponting. This team commands no respect from anyone - they are far from Steve Waugh’s team, farther from Lloyds WI
Brad - exactly. The Indian Cricket Team are behaving like a bunch of sooks. Some may say citing Singh’s ‘monkey’ sledge demonstrates that Australia are hypocrites, or sooks, but I understood, and agree, that overt racism sledging was to be stamped out.
Richie, I have yet to see any video evidence that the ball bounced before Clarke caught it. If you have any better footage, let me know. The Indians have been infamous for over-appealing in the past, are you calling them cheats as well?
Umpires are only human. Electronic replays are unfair to umpires. Split second timing and narrow margins require impossible human reactions. The umpires do not have the advantage of replays. Choose between umpires or electronics you can’t have both.
Great The Indians may pull the pin! The Sandy Stone supporters of a god awful boring game will hurumph into their grey cardigans. Its a game played by boring people for boring people in a handful of countries . Lets all cheer for its ongoing demise
Should have been won by India, by rights! If ever proof was needed that bad decisions can change the course of a match, this was it. Serious changes in umpiring methods need to occur, including technology and player challenges! But it won’t be cricket!
Great players never lied. Even Steve Waugh, Sachin, Lara, Dravid used to leave the field if they were out….Aus team 5 years back was good team under Steve Waugh. But now it’s full of cheaters headed by a beguiler captain Ricky who lacks Sportsmen spirit
Ponting and Kumble came to an agreement before the test series that the fielding captain could be trusted with ruling on contentious catches, Benson knew this and that is why he looked at Ponting. He clearly locked his fingers under the ball, whiners!
Australian team has shown its character. Fail to understand why world champs had to resort to lies & dishonesty. All for a 16th consecutive win!!!! Pity. Ponting, symonds, clarke, gilchrist can stick to their lies, but the world has seen it all.
Jim, your nickname can be…
India copped a hard deal with some costly bad decisions but people, they are part of the game since 1877. We’ve all been on the harsh end. Lord imagine if this was in Mumbai and India won, I guess Aussies would still be called sore losers! Grow Up
So does anyone here honestly think that we would even be discussing the sportsmanship of the Aussies if India managed to hold on for the 2 sessions they needed to draw the match? Only 1 of those 10 wickets was dubious, what about the other 6 batsmen?
m’eh. If the Indians were good enough they’d have beaten the Australians, or at least pulled out a draw. Melb - they got absolutely smashed, Sydney - couldn’t even manage a draw, Perth - they’ll get smashed, IF they play. I hope they have a go, and win.
@Ads - If it was comments for sore loosing why didn’t we were enraged during the 1st test match when u won by 337 runs !!! The bad umpiring coupled with bad sportsmen spirit by Aussies has resulted in defamatory win of Aussies in 2nd test.
How can one be so sure that Bhajji used the word? Hayden & Clarke have testified that they heard the word, they are lying. How can you believe a player like Clarke who appeals for a grounded catch? The aussies played with 13 players, 11+2 umpires. Shame!!
Pointing is definetely misleading the team with such shamefull activities and loosing his dignity by not accepting the facts which whole world can see with nacked eyes on TV. very truely said by Mr. Reobuck that Pointing should be sacked out..
From memory, TV replays showed it was a mistake for the umpires to take Wonderboy Michael Clarke’s word in respect of one of his two catches in last month’s 1st Test in Melbourne - the ball was clearly grounded before entering Clarke’s hands!
i’m not certain about what is being measured by those bleating about the game being ‘in decline’, but moneywise, it is raking in more than ever.
increased cynicism in the modern game?
bodyline, last ball under arm.
both occurred some time ago.
There seem to be two issues at play here. One is the attitude of the Australian’s, which is a national embarrassment, the second is the bad umpiring. Would the umpiring be so bad if we didn’t have the benefit of slow motion digital hindsight?
What a biased shallow article. Not even a mention of Singh’s racist comment. Calling someone of West Indian descent a monkey pales any behaviour by the Australians.
Excellent balanced article. Fish rots at the head. ICC/Malcom Speed will lose to parallel cricket leagues like ICL. There is no room for the kind of CHEATING that the 3 umpires,Ponting,Clarke & Symonds displayed. Was the match fixed and were people paid ?
Where did you dig this Happell bloke up from-he’s obviously got a hate-hate relationship for Oz cricket since his unknown, drunken father left the C off his name in the registry. Was he at the ground at all or just echoing the bullshit from the xenophobes
Was this meant to be blithely one-sided, to misrepresent some decisions and overlook others that didn’t suit its argument, and blind to the real issues that cry out to be debated? If it wasn’t meant as a ruse to bring about serious debate it’s a disgrace
One more thing, pardon me if I am wrong. I heard that all the convicts in UK were banished to Australia, if this is true, then what more can you expect from the descendants of criminals. Read here: http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria11_2.html
How is calling Symonds a monkey any worse than calling Michael Clarke a pup. Surely someone who goes to the trouble of dressing up in dreadlocks and facepaint deserves some sort of nickname , not of his own choosing ?
Poor decisions are the umpires’ responsibility - I remember before we had neutral umpires, every touring side complained that umpires were biased. Note that Clarke didn’t know the footage would be unclear - so wouldn’t risk lying about bump ball.
Um…Isn’t it just a game with a bat and a ball? It appears that imbecile on Nine is not the only one who’s ‘Gone Bolly.’
Ads: B4 u resort to personal comments against Ankur consider: Aussies were 134/6 WHEN Symonds was out (then twice again)-much easier 4 the top order to score when given multiple lives & much harder when they r given OUT when they r NOT-can u comprehend?
Agreed that umpires are human, but the jerks had the help of technology and yet they ignored them. For most of the appeals they could have consulted the third umpire and it is quite baffling that they did not.
Joseph from USA: If the match was fixed and money was paid then it would have been done by Indian bookmakers
Clarke does get his fingers under the ball BUT when he rolls around on the ground he grounds the ball which means Ganguly is not out because Clarke is still carrying out the action of catching the ball. Have a look at the replay on You Tube.
I am disgusted, again, by the antics of the aussie team. They win no admiration from me at all and I am a 3rd generation aussie. Cricket is the loser here as the team seems to run roughshod over the Cricket Austraila administrators. Ponting is a disgrace.
I have never understood how a wicket keeper, standing way back, can be so certain that a batsman is LBW that he does a song and dance that Billy Elliot would be proud of. Does Gilly do that? How about every time so as to influence, intimidate, the umpire.
ICC should change the rules of game in favour of Australians, in future this problem will not arise, as Australians will win by rules.
Immense heat - lots of little sparks, anyway but why blame the Umps? If you know you’ve hit it, walk: if you know the catch was legitmate, walk: honestly indicate if a catch was or was not taken. Make these Laws; let the Umps make the judgement calls.
Ads-Yes Indeed! 1st time umpiring’s been so BLATANTLY 1-sided @ crucial points-so many catches claimed when they weren’t For a team that won15 Punter&Co were behaved desperate cry-babies.If u r proud of them & the victory then there’s no hope 4 cricket!!
Sure there were bad umpiring decisions both ways that cost India more than it did Australia. But how dare you bring into disrepute the way Australia plays. There is not one instance in the game where Australia cheated. Read a rule book!
well i think everyone would agree that symonds looks like a monkey so whats wrong theres nothing racist about it.
I’m afraid Charles is guilty of plagiarism for parts of that second-last paragraph. Check out par 6 of Peter English’s article on Cricinfo:
http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/329392.html
At best, it’s lazy journalism, Charles.
If the bad umpiring decisions were not made there would not have even be any fallout over this test match. The appealing is done by all teams as is the not walking.Sour Grapes! What about the time wasting by bringout out two R.H Gloves at the end!
Joseph from USA - Is this the 1st time there has been a poor decision in a test, remind me again? I think not, being given a chance by an umpire is fortune and luck, not cheating. Is stalling on day 5 to get helmets & pads for a last delivery? I wonder..
The game is in decline. It doesn’t attract any migrant group except the previously converted (Subcontinent and UK). Ethnic line up of today’s XI has not changed from the 50s. Sportsmanship? Remember payments for weather and the state of the pitch? Pls!
I don’t think people understand that it doesn’t matter what the indians did or what the umpires did. The Aussie cricket team behaved poorly and I expect better from professional sportsman representing our country.
Charles 1st of all Hats off to write a true article here. In India Steve Waugh was very well respected as a great captain because of his sportsmen spirit but Ricky Pointing is no where even considered a good player. Today Australia won but CRICKET LOST.
Big money means players don’t walk, umpires hang on for too long (like some players too), fielders appeal when they know the batsman is not out and players verbally abuse each other (racally and otherwise). What about the spirit of cricket? Meaningless.
Yes how dare the Australians accept the umpires decision, celebrate a world record equalling string of wins and report racist abuse. They should be banned for life for that behavior.
As a pre=requiaited, all Australian crrickers should be given a 6- week course in diplomacy, but i dont think they should cop the blame for bad umpirrig. They should just ;learn when to shut up. Penalizing the Indian team for the behaiour of 1 is unfair
Cathy, Obviously, you haven’t seen Clarke’s 1-bounce catch pic in the recent 1-day against the Kiwis?
Brad, The footage from behind the stumps (in replays) actually show it (got guts to admit it?). The camera even paused at that moment (b4 Slater).
Michal: Its was nothing but pathetic spirit for game showcased by Aussies, they have a long history(with vedios) for sledging with as bad words as they can. indians were not leaving the ground hmm chk out the video and u will cme to know…. its a shame..
Everyone’s talking about the Aussies but the Indians weren’t angels. They too had players refusing to walk. They too were sledging (calling a black man a monkey isn’t racist?). They again threaten to quit a series they’re not winning. Too brittle…
What were the other “hollow victories”, Charles? Your piece is classic “tall poppyism”.
The umpires made errors - people they are the ones who make decisions - but Aussie players are judged cheats. Ankur, you show a narrow mind to sport in the current age and comments borne from sore losing. Blame your top order who should score more runs!
re: But who can really take any joy from what transpired at the SCG over the past five days?
Not this lover of international sport.what happens on the field should stay on the field; both sledging and bad umpire decisions.
Charles
You seem to have stirred a few would be hornets, some of whom are a bit confused. Facts: the umpiring was a bad joke from day 1; the weight of their impact was probably against India; Ponting also claimed a grounded “catch”. Bad taste all round.