It is fair to say that the recent Australia India Test series failed to live up to the hype. India’s big name batting line-up failed miserably, aside from Zaheer Khan the bowling was poor, and they fielded like a team from the ‘90s.
The once mighty Australians had been half-destroyed in South Africa, humbled by an amateur-level New Zealand, and all the chatter was that this was India’s best chance of taking down the Australians at home.
There was also, despite media expectation, very little of the bitterness that marred India’s last campaign down under.
The absence of mortal enemies Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds, the total awe and anticipation of Tendulkar’s pending century of centuries, and a degree of player self-control has hosed down any repeat of the ugliness that probably triggered Australia’s overdue decline from Test supremacy.
It took a fighting standalone hundred from the feisty Virat Kohli, who had already become a crowd ‘favourite’ in Sydney, to bring out the well suppressed tensions that obviously still exist between the two teams.
It was an innings that frustrated the Australians, who were anxious to wrap up a series whitewash, and also indicated that the lopsidedness of the series played a huge part in avoiding any reappearance of the ghosts of 2008.
There is an arrogance that remains inherent in Australian cricket. It’s behind recent surprising successes, and the mature and unselfish leadership of PR dream Michael Clarke.
A relic of the Steve Waugh “mental disintegration” era, Australian teams turn to sledging when things aren’t going their way. And the line between sledging and abuse continues to blur.
Do we need sledging? Does it have a place in the modern game? In any game? We look back at ‘great’ sledges from the likes of Merv Hughes, Warney and WG Grace with a vague and misplaced romanticism, but don’t recall nasty incidents such as Lillee-Gavaskar, Slater-Dravid, McGrath-Sarwan or Symonds-Harbhajan so fondly.
Do we need that sort of example trickling down into state, grade and park cricket, where most players will tell you it can go from humorous to ugly to violent in the blink of an eye?
In few other sports does this sort of sustained sledging and abuse exist, let alone go frequently unpunished. Bowling a good bouncer, or several plays and misses from an out of sorts batsman, cannot warrant a foul verbal tirade.
A 200-plus kilometre ace in tennis doesn’t come paired with a personal insult, the slightest taunt in the NBA receives a technical foul and Usain Bolt doesn’t dress down his dust-covered competitors after another 100-metre blow-out.
It’s unnecessary, futile really. The Aussies are better than that.
Of course gamesmanship is tolerated and is indeed a part of all sport, but cricket has recovered from its burns and is playing with matches again.
The Australian team has been so humble under Michael Clarke’s fledgling captaincy and has had concentrated success so far against strong opposition – success that was down to good, honest, and positive cricket.
I would love to see Clarke’s men claw their way back to the summit of world cricket without the combative, divisive and let’s be honest, Western mentality that made the Australian cricket team of the past so condemned.
By all accounts India are set to be much more competitive with the colours on: after all, they are world champions, even though that already seems a distant memory.
The injection of youth for the tourists will be crucial and probably reinvigorate the squad members already here. So with the heat turned up a little, will the Australians maintain their composure the way they have done admirably in victory so far this summer?
David
Guest
Someone will brain one of them one day and then maybe the aussies will shut up and just play.
Al
Guest
This might interest you Australian Rules. Do you still think those West Indies teams were all angels? Colin Croft - New Zealand v West Indies, Christchurch, 1979-80 It had been a grumpy tour from start to acrimonious finish, with Michael Holding booting stumps out of the ground at Dunedin, and a general air of dissent colouring the West Indian body language throughout. But no-one got the hump more dramatically than Colin Croft, who appealed for a fatuous caught-behind against Richard Hadlee and swore at the umpire, Fred Goodall, when the decision was returned in the negative. Both umpires spoke to West Indies' captain, Clive Lloyd, who showed no interest in calming the situation, and when Croft was no-balled for his umpteenth bouncer, he first knocked the bails off with his hand, then dropped his shoulder as he approached for his next delivery and barged straight into the startled official. Even after this assault, Lloyd refused to remove Croft from the attack but Hadlee ended the stand-off by clattering 15 runs off his next over.
Al
Guest
Very weak examples. 2 are duplicates so we're down to 9 in 33 years of cricket. Slater was reacting to an umpires decision not gamesmanship or sledging....As was Rixon with Viv. Fletcher / Ponting, again nothing to do with sledging and not even on the field. McDermott & Merv used to sledge Viv who is the wrong person to do it to but there was never a big incident, just McDermott copping it himself when he had to face the music batting. I remember him getting plenty of rib ticklers and chin music under instruction. I'd say that's copping it pretty well considering how lethal Ambrose was. Harbajhan & Sreesanth are hated by every player, umpire and official in world cricket, including many in India. Not to mention were friends until Singh slapped Sreesanth in the face at the end of an IPL game. I think the Dalai Lama would want to clock each one if he played cricket against them. What's left...3 in 33 years? Runatunga I'll give you and Sarfraz I'll plead ignorance. Lillee / Miandad has a whole story behind it but I'll conceed that both players didn't handle themslves well so it's yours. So maybe there's 3 since 1979? And the most recent of the 3 was 16 years ago? Come on, you'll have to do a lot better than that.....
Danno1
Guest
Slater in India, Lilliee v Miandad, Healy v Ranatunga, Australian team v Ranatunga, Viv Rchards v Craig McDermott, Rixon v Viv Richards, Harbajan v Australian team, Sreesanth vs Aust team, Safraz v Australian team in 79, Duncan Fletcher v Ricky Ponting, the whole ashes series of 2005 we did not deal well with the other team dishing it out. I'm not saying it is a blight on the game, I am not fussed at all about sledging, I just think we get a bit precious about gamesmanship/sledging when other teams do it to us.
Ben
Guest
Ben
Guest
Danno1 please give some examples of the Australian team reacting poorly or being offended. I can recall McGrath losing his head at Sarwan and the obvious Harbajhan/Symonds incident but any others? It looked like Sharma & Khan weren't short of a word to batsmen throughout the recent series but I don't recall a 'massive song and dance' about it. Clarke seems to always cop an earful when he is at the crease (Flintoff was into him in a big way last tour) but other than having a few words back he seems to cop it pretty well. The whole sledging debate is ridiculous. It's always a case of when Australia do it, it's a blight on the game and Oz players should be sanctioned etc etc but whenever other teams do it (and they ALL do) it seems ok.
jameswm
Guest
Very good point BAS. I saw Ponting calming Kohli down (softening in his old age), and some Aussies (Warner and Hussey were two) run over to shake his hand as he left the field. Where is the media's story on this, and where is Kohli's acknowledgement that whilst one or two opponents may have said something I thought was unnecessary, overall they were good?
sledgeross
Guest
Agree 100% Vas, great posts mate. Also, I would like to point out with the advent of WSC by Packer, coverage of cricket, especially in AUstralia, became greater. This exposure to TV meant that punters had greater insight about what happens on the field. Australia also can hide behind the old "I said an insult in Hindi/Urdu/Afrikaans, you must have heard something else".
AndyMack
Guest
Humourless knuckleheads. Love it.
dasilva
Guest
I think it's not the case that people assume it is one way street. It's simply the fact that Australian cricket team represent Australia and the way other cricket nations behave is irrelevent because they don't represent Australia. how other nation behave is an issue that their own fans have to deal with.
Danno1
Guest
TBR I think you're a bit wrong about Australian players, I have no issue at all with sledging, it's just that Australian teams react very poorly when they get sledged. They appear to have no humour, very thin skins or both. Plenty of time the Aussie's have lost it when they are struggling, they appear to have no humour nor be prepared to "leave it on the field". Instead they make a massive song and dance about it when they are on the field so all spectators know they have been grievously insulted. Also without stirring the 'racist" pot Australia have a far harder time dealing with sledging from sub-continental cricketers than the other teams. Once the sub-continent stop being easybeats and started giving back as good as they got, think Gavaskar, Miandad and Ranatunga we seemed to get more fired up and more easily offended. I look forward to a day when we cop it as well as we give it out, I am not holding my breath.
JohnB
Roar Rookie
I think 5 of last night's team didn't play in the test series, meaning any better standard in the fielding of last night's team is not relevant to criticisms of the test team's fielding. Incidenally, "fielding from the fifties" might have a bit of a better ring to it - it has that alliteration thing going for it for a start, and big improvements in fielding standards because of one day cricket were already well in place in the 90s.
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
Wooblies, what's to view about him that is suspicious? If you want to talk about Michael Clarke the businessman, then sure, no need to trust him. But Michael Clarke the cricketer has had an excellent career, bats very well, bowls handily, fields like a dream, and leads with intelligence. He spreads the game of cricket at a grassroots level by his work with Milo, and turns away big bucks of IPL cricket to work on his game in the longest form. The problem is that there aren't more cricketers like him...
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
Simple fact is that if you want to dish it, be prepared to cop it. I find there are very few players who are capable of doing both. This summer has been a satisfying one for me as an Australian fan (of Indian background) in the context of sticking it up to Indian fans (who live in Australia proudly) claiming that sledging is an Australian trait. You'd have to be pretty damn selective to suggest a certain aspect of the game is the cultural property of one team. All I know is that WG Grace was cussing choice phrases to fielders and the bowlers about their inability to stop him, Gavaskar was carrying a hissy fit in Melbourne in 81, Lillee and Miandad exchanging near blows, and West Indian fast bowlers proclaiming that Aussie blood would be spilt on their pitches. Sledging is a cricket trait, and not the responsibility of one nation. That said, I will say that the conduct of teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting did take it far sometimes, so I'm glad for Michael Clarke's leadership in this respect as well. But if you want to proclaim which team are the worst sledgers at the moment, then it isn't Australia. But given the context of our behaviour under the Waugh/Ponting era, any time an Aussie blows up, there will be far more attention given to it than another nation. It's about perpetuating stereotypes, and this is one that has unfortunately latched onto Australian cricket. Let's hope Clarke goes some way in changing that.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
this isnt just true of cricket. Its the nature of most Australians sportsmen to point out the reasons they are winning/losing or to try and distract their foes/friends from winning. Id suggest its the way most australian males play sport.
Justin
Guest
The past amazingly paints a different picture to the reality sometimes...
formeropenside
Guest
And I am pretty sure they weren't loved for a 4-man intimidatory bowlign attack - I recall suggestions it was time to paint a line mid-pitch beyond which balls (or at least most of them) have to pitch so as to not be a no-ball. Didn't an Indian captain declare an innings 5-down (perhaps even behind on runs) as a protest against the bowling?
The Boundary Rider
Roar Rookie
Good point Brett. And let's not forget that under Ganguly's leadership, the Indian side started to dish it out as well, however ithe blame is always sheeted through to the Australians. Thje big difference is, you rarely hear Australian players complain about being verballed in the media. As long as it's not racist etc, what happens on the field stays on the field.
WoobliesFan
Guest
"leadership of PR dream Michael Clarke. " Turn it up Candido. He's been thrashed, is disliked and viewed with suspicion because of his simulated and disingenuous persona. He's anything but a PR dream, except to those that wanted him to be a PR dream.
Al
Guest
I'm hard pressed to think of any spearhead and wicketkeeper from any top tier cricket nation who doesn't use gamesmanship, chirping, sledging or whatever you want to call it. It particularly happens in Test Cricket because it's just that - A Test. A true test of a player's mental strength as well as his physical capabilities. When I see an article like this, I just feel the author has never watched a match where Australia isn't involved. India Pakistan have played in some of the fiercest matches ever. South Africa England contests always involve the quicks from both sides taking turns in giving it to the batsmen. And yes, even those legendary West Indian teams that I miss so much were always up for it when the moment arose. You don't see it from the lesser ranked teams as much because it would seem pretty stupid to sledge and then get walloped by the opposition. If you aren't up for the contest then sledging is a moot point. We saw that all too clearly when India folded on this last tour. All we got there were excuses and the finger....