Is it tough be an Aussie or are they out to get us?

Roar Guru

By Rickety Knees, 20 Jul 2009 Rickety Knees is a Roar Guru

Tagged:: Cricket, Jonathan Kaplan, rugby, The Ashes, wallabies

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It has been a tough weekend for this cricket and rugby tragic. I have been through the pain of watching both the Wallabies and the Australian cricket team being put the sword.

My mind goes back to the Wallabies v All Blacks in Hong Kong last year when referee Alan Lewis had an absolute howler of a game (in favour of the All Blacks).

Then there is Jonathan Kaplan – where any Australian team (S14 or Wallabies) should not bother turning up. Followed by Craig Joubert – though he is more a home town specialist (liking to please the locals).

I have just come away from watching the second Ashes test – Ponting and Hughes in my opinion get bad decisions in the first innings.

Bopara gets the benefit of the doubt. Second innings and Katich is given out off a no ball, and Strauss claims a catch off Hughes which clearly bounced in front of him and Hughes is given out (no referral).

Clearly the rub-of-the-green, or the bounce-of-the-ball or whatever euphemism might apply – it just seems to me that neither the Wallabies nor the cricketers can’t take a trick right now.

Australians can be brash and abrasive and as a demographically small nation we certainly punch above our weight, but is there something about us that subliminally turns officials around the world against us, or is this writer paranoid?

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The Crowd Says (24) | Page 1 of Comments

sheek said | July 20th 2009 @ 10:37am | Report comment

Rickety,

You look about my vintage. Our spirit has been forged in steel by past disappointments. We take defeat on the chin, brush ourselves off, & move onto the next series.

Unlike many younger generations of Aussie fans since the early 90s, who have only known success after success after success. They are unprepared for the downturn.

I remember Aussie cricket hitting the skids in 1970, during the WSC years (77-79) & again immediately after the retirement of the holy trinity (84-86).

I came into rugby halfway through their horror stretch 1967-73, & the climb up to the mountain was slow & full of endless frustration. Then there was 88-90, 95-97, & from 2004 until now.

Even with league, I witnessed the last time Great Britain won a 3 test series in Australia – 1970. Between the Socceroos qualifying for the world cups of 1974 & 2006, there was shattered, not broken, but shattered dreams heaped upon each other.

I remember our Olympians failing to win a single gold medal in 1976. Imagine that, a time when Australia didn’t win a single gold medal. The tragedy now would be winning less than 10 gold medals!

Poor young Steve Holland, world record holder & our great hope, beat his old mark in the 1500m freestyle. Trouble was, two yanks swam faster, relegating him to bronze. His spirit was broken, derided by an unforgiving Aussie press as a “failure”.

So we’re struggling in both the rugby & cricket at the moment. Phwwwf….. child’s play. I’ve seen it a lot worse, much, much worse, believe me!

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Rickety Knees said | July 20th 2009 @ 10:53am | Report comment

Thanks Sheek – we are the same vintage and I can relate to all that you have written. I enjoy reading your posts. My article was born out of frustration watching Katich and Hughes get out last night to crook decisions on top of some bewildering decisions by Joubert. Just had to have a rant.

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Jameswm said | July 20th 2009 @ 11:10am | Report comment

I’m with you Rickety – once Hughes was given out last night I’d had enough, and I couldn’t help thinking why is the world against us?

Of course, one solid partnership and the Poms start panicking, as usual. We’ve got to keep our heads and keep Flintoff out for the first hour, and they might really fall apart. That will be their test. We all know Johnson can bat, and hopefully he can forget about his bowling when (if??) he steps out to bat. Hauritz can bat as we’ve seen and Siddle can really hold a bat. Hilfy’s a bit of a bunny I’m afraid and we’ll be in a lot of trouble if he comes in!

I might have to buy some caffeine drinks tonight to keep me up, if it starts looking promising.

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Brett McKay said | July 20th 2009 @ 1:23pm | Report comment

nice one Rickety, we all need to enjoy the view from atop the soapbaox from time to time..

“as a demographically small nation we certainly punch above our weight” – now I just have visions of Australia marching along behind a banner with tall stunners hanging off our arm

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Rickety Knees said | July 20th 2009 @ 2:18pm | Report comment

Brett sounds good to me mate – a tall stunner hanging off my arm (and a spare battery for my pacemaker) would certainly make this old man very happy.

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sheek said | July 20th 2009 @ 3:52pm | Report comment

Ahhh Brett,

What a great beer ad. One of the best ever, congrats VB. Your traditional ads were good for a long time too. And not a bad drop at all.

I do cringe a bit at the banner “peaked at high school”. I hate to say it, but maybe that applies to me in some respects!!!

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Choppy said | July 20th 2009 @ 4:22pm | Report comment

You’re not paranoid Rickety, look at a couple of decisions which decided the 05 series in the poms favour as well.

The no-ball for Katich I can live with because I’m sure they are missed regularly.

Strauss’s ‘catch’ should have been put through the same examination as Hauritz’s and it wasn’t. Ponting should not have been given out caught (even though he should’ve been given LBW anyway) and the rule explicity states that.

Finally yes love the new VB ads, particularly the ‘blokes that took a sicky’

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Brett McKay said | July 20th 2009 @ 4:40pm | Report comment

boys, one word: ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT…

Choppy, interestingly enough, once Ponting’s 1st Innings catch/LBW went upstairs, by the laws of the great game, the third ump HAD to tell the field umps that no contact with the bat was made. But what’s really interesting is that once he did that, he couldn’t then give Ponting out LBW, as the third ump can’t be used for LBW appeals.

Ponting should have been not out…

(And let’s also not overlook the irony of where this failure to apply the laws took place either…)

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Jameswm said | July 20th 2009 @ 4:46pm | Report comment

Brett I thought the 3rd umpire could only say if it’s carried?

I’ll tell you one thing I was thinking at the time (and yes I have always been quick witted, esp with dealing with officials on the field).

I thought Ricky should have wandered over to the ump and said “Why on earth have you referred it upstairs? I didn’t hit it. You wouldn’t want to see a replay”. If you cop a fine, so be it. The guy gets paid enough.

I wonder how Rudi would have reacted.

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Choppy said | July 20th 2009 @ 4:52pm | Report comment

From the Australian http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25807022-5001505,00.html

The catch was taken cleanly but it was also obvious from replays that Ponting had clearly not hit the ball. The noise Koertzen heard was Ponting hitting his boot with his bat as the ball hit the pad.

When Koertzen referred the catch, Llong should have told him that there had been no contact with the bat.

Playing conditions clearly state: “The third umpire has to determine whether the batsman has been caught. However, when reviewing the television replay(s), if it is clear to the third umpire that the batsman did not hit the ball, he shall indicate that the batsman is not out.”

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