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Aussie tough guys in their own cricket world

9th November, 2015
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Starcy's been struggling to get the ball to talk. (AFP, Ian Kington)
Roar Guru
9th November, 2015
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The Baggy Greens’ bully-boy act is wearing thin. Bravado and bluster might have worked in the 1980s and ’90s, but the world has grown up since then. Their cricketers are stuck in a time warp, desperately trying to keep the culture of tough as teak going.

David Warner leads the barking at the top of the order, pledging, vowing to play “in-your-face cricket”, because that’s what the other used to do.

It’s ingrained in the Australian cricket psyche, a sporting culture that respects sledging and ignores anything else.

The ideal Aussie cricketer? Doubtlessly a mixture of Matthew Hayden’s brawn, Merv Hughes’ bluster and Shane Warne’s bravado.

Not a sledger? You’re weak, not fit to play Test cricket. This is a professional sport, a hard game played by hard men. Can’t cop the verbals? Play tiddly-winks instead. They need to be angry. Get under their skin.

Angry, like Mitchell Starc, who took his built-up anger by throwing a blocked shot back at a bemused Mark Craig.

New Zealand haven’t always been saints. Men like Adam Parore, Craig McMillan and Scott Styris enjoyed a verbal battle. Former skipper Stephen Fleming got involved too. But the Black Caps have moved on.

Which is why Brendon McCullum’s brand of cricket is revolutionary, not just in cricket, but professional sport in general. His team go about their business happily, proud that they’ve rediscovered the simple joy about playing sport and representing their country.

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Sledging isn’t of benefit. Acknowledging a batsman for scoring a personal milestone isn’t contrived; it’s called sportsmanship.

And New Zealand have been winners at the same time.

No one dared utter anything negative about McCullum’s distinctly different ways as they were marching through the World Cup, or going on a seven-match unbeaten Test series run.

Yet, after a below-par display in the most challenging of local venues, suffering injuries to half their bowling attack, the Black Caps become an easy target for a mocking Australian media.

Yes, a big speed bump.

Former players like Damien Fleming couldn’t comprehend at their style of civilised cricket this week. During the World Cup final, Brad Haddin was so hard-wired into sledging that a smile from Kane Williamson or Martin Guptill almost put him in hospital with shock. Starc famously got friendly fire from Warne himself because he wasn’t scaring batsmen enough with his strut.

Ricky Ponting carried on Steve Waugh’s ‘hard-man’ mantra, as did Michael Clarke. Now Steve Smith is seemingly grabbing this baton too.

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It’s okay to play sport for – dare I say it – the enjoyment of it.

McCullum decided that participating in sledging and verbal battles weren’t benefiting his game, or his team. So, after the depths of the South Africa tour in early 2013, he decided to take stock of where his team were at and how they were perceived.

Essentially, he concluded the New Zealanders were a bunch of prima donnas who were overpaid and didn’t perform. So he set about reshaping his team’s identity. They would play hard, win back the respect of the public and be proud of their cricket.

The Black Caps, injured riddled and underdone, dissolved among a whirlwind of Joe Burns and Warner theatrics and a double-Mitchell attack this week. The tourists won’t make excuses, as the better team executed and deserved to win. Australia was much, much better with the bat and ball. New Zealand was poor.

But please, don’t blame the loss on a lack of verbal volleys or metaphorical chest-thumping from the men wearing black. That’s just plain ignorant. These are two teams who play the game in very different ways.

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