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Ugly Australians. Abusive Australians. Bad sports. Can give it, but can’t take it.
Pick your own insult. It’s the easiest thing that many international cricket fans, and a fair few domestic ones, have had to do when it came to describing the cricket team that represents this wide brown land.
While Steve Waugh would call such tactics “mental disintegration” and “playing hard but fair”, opponents – and often his own countrymen – would not see it that way.
It largely depended on which side of the fence you fell under, and the perspective you formed.
Yet there is no side of the fence when it comes to the almost global grief the cricket world has been condemned to since Phillip Hughes’ tragic passing.
While photos and videos of Australian men, women, boys and girls doling out flowers, candles and cricket bats (#putyourbatsout) has been largely expected, the greater surprise was to see touching memorials being held from as far away as Lord’s (the home of cricket), Sharjah (cricket’s deserted outpost in the desert), Kolkata (Asia’s cricket centre) and Karachi (where no international cricket will be seen for a long time).
Hughes’ passing has uniquely united a world that for so long has been fractured by many aspects, including our own Australian team’s questionable antics on the field. With this in mind, does cricket stand at a point of positive evolution? Or more specifically, will Australian cricket ever be the same?
Don’t mark this question down as either rhetorical or mere hyperbole. Even the most ardent critic of Michael Clarke as a spin-based showpony would have been afflicted by his heartbreaking press conference on Saturday, where every sentence began and ended with tangible pauses and sighs, before it abruptly ended as he choked back tears.
This is a far cry from the Michael Clarke that has previously been illuminated in clashes against Chris Gayle, James Anderson and Dale Steyn, to name a few. This is also in stark contrast to the Michael Clarke that has endured internal issues among the Australian cricket team, most recently last Monday when his fitness for the now-postponed First Test was being disputed.
The sight of David Warner, Brad Haddin and others who have epitomised the tough Aussie spirit and aggression (again, think of perspective) are now united in grief, and as such, will never have the same perspective ever again.
Never again will a batsman be accused of cowardice when facing a fast bowler (read Piers Morgan). Never again will the term “going for the kill” be considered appropriate in bowling lexicon. Never again will bouncers be greeted with audible glee without considering the consequences.
And hopefully the next time we see this great institution, the Australian cricket team, never again will it have the phrases mentioned above attributed to it.
Sport can be ugly, but there doesn’t need to be wilful abuse at a fellow player, and there must always be sportsmanship. Think of the generosity of spirit shown via Lord’s, Sharjah, Kolkata and Karachi. There remains an obligation from Australia’s part to return such goodwill.
You see, it all comes down to perspective. Australian cricket has never truly learnt it until now.
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