Are Aussie cricket players above the board?

It's a completely irrelevant date. The Swan River Colony was completely separate from say Sydney or Tasmania. It had as much jurisdictional connection to Sydney and elsewhere s as it did to New Zealand, the Bahamas or South Africa. WA wasn't going to be part of the federation of the other Australian colonies (to become States) in the first place. And by the '30s the majority of the WA population outside of the goldfields (the miners being mostly from interstate) wanted to reverse the decision. It was the Kalgoorlie/Coolgardie population that voted in sufficient numbers to quash the secession. Further to the date of 26 Jan, the whole concept of Cook "finding" Australia in 1770 is ridiculous. The Dutch had been visiting the west coast for over 150 years prior and indeed the earliest visit that can be deduced, but not confirmed, was a Portuguese ship visiting the coast around Geraldton in 1528! However, most literature etc emanated from Sydney early on and the "Cook and the Endeavour story" was promoted as being the starting point of European activity, because it was relevant to those on the east coast. And it became embedded in education curriculum as being fact. I mean, de Vlamingh sailed 30 kms up the Swan River in the 1600s!

By the mid 1850s, well under 10% of non-indigenous people anywhere in Australia were even descended from convicts let alone came here themselves as convicts. Your point about WA's founding highlights the stupidity of 26 January being our national day. Apart from the trauma to the local indigenous people the date represents, it also has no historical significance for any state other than NSW.

In the short term, the growing popularity of Willow opens up more avenues for people to be exposed to cricket which hopefully turns to more people playing. Still early days and small steps, but a base number of viewers in the millions is a pretty useful start.

many of my friends and I used willowtv in usa and it's a great service for streaming just about every cricket match there . not as convinced about the playing popularity but perhaps migration from India will play a key change in the decades to come

Yes, "gutless" came from Mitchell Johnson. A growling lion at home and feeble fairy floss on the road. And also one of the Micky Arthur backstabbers in Pakistan. Great response from Cummins who has intellect, a word Johnson would need to look up in the dictionary if he has heard of a dictionary. The process was fine. It got rid of the wart, and exposed the toxic ex-players for what they are. Media bunnies who are willing to make fools of themselves. Their days are done and they don't like the new look.

"The players would do well to reflect on the fact that the view of the old guard is not nearly as important as that of the the fans. " Hmmm, not so sure about that. Fans certainly make up their own minds about the players, but many are still influenced by what the ex-players have to say. This is sadly where the Warne's of the world have way too much influence, for all the wrong reasons. You're right, at the end of the day, the fans come first, mostly because there's so many of us, but in terms of influence, the ex-players can't be discounted

Paul Ravi might have gone on consider evidence that the shift in power is appropriate and the extent of the shift is "about right" as they say. On the other hand those judgements lie down the track. The players would do well to reflect on the fact that the view of the old guard is not nearly as important as that of the the fans. For example if fans get it into their heads that the players are arranging things to their own satisfaction rather than playing for them.

We'll have to agree to disagree on your first point but I think you make a very valid comment when you pose the question, what are players aiming to achieve in their careers these days? I don't think there's an Aussie kid interested in the game who doesn't want to win the baggy green and play Test cricket for Australia. At some point though, that dream morphs into a different reality for many, simply because only a select few are good enough to play at that level. All want to make a living from the sport, often because it's the only thing they know how to do well. Now that the big money is in white ball cricket, it seems to me may are happy to go as far as they can in the T20 format, knowing that if they have one or two good seasons, they could be set up for life. Guys like Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis still hold the dream of being a Test player, but are equally happy making a good living from BBL & IPL - and I have no problem with that. Chasing a quid has been happening for at least the past 80 or 100 years, with plenty of top notch players leaving Oz to ply their trade in England.

I have no difficulty with Ravi's approach, which is to state his hypothesis and provide the evidence that tends to support it. Others in this thread have pointed to a set of vested interests such as franchises, new leagues, gambling, player managers, etc that have coalesced to shift the balance to the elite players. Do the players still regard representing the Baggy Green as their fundamental objective? Or do they see the baggy green merely as a pathway to the astounding financial rewards of the IPL and their personal marketability? Perhaps this is what defines the fault line between the current players and what many dismiss as the "old guard".

While I agree that Australian players expect that they need to treated respectfully, even when they fail, it’s possible that Langer went a bit far. It happens in offices too, when Managers are shown door for serious anger management issues. You already see support from erstwhile big players for Langer. What will be interesting is to see who’s taking over as next coach. I doubt whether any high profile players will be ready.

the same rules should still apply to lawyers

WA and SA were never founded by convicts. Indeed, when, after decades, the few convicts that did eventually arrive in WA, were mostly "misdemeanor" types, often as a result of poor financial debts, characterised by lawyers, doctors and the like - a very deliberate decision on the part of the Colony's administrators. They were allowed to walk the streets of the settlements of Perth and Fremantle up until dusk unless otherwise required for certain civic tasks, after which time they had to report back to their quarters. Their presence was so innocuous as to never be an issue of concern for the local population.

Is it perhaps just an Australian cultural thing in general? Like win at all costs, quick fixes, short term gratification? Stemming right back to the DNA of the original founding fathers stepping off those prison ships? I've never been to Australia, so I'm not an expert but, this behavior does appear to be just too repetitive?

In Justin Langer’s case, the key point was that some of the senior players didn’t want him to continue as he tried to enforce some discipline in the team’s culture. This is pure speculation.

when will the rant be over?

What interested me was the numbers happy to subscribe to watch cricket. I'd guess they'd be only behind India and maybe Bangladesh or Pakistan for actual viewers, which is astounding given the popularity of cricket generally in the US

Fulfilling our quota of Langer stories. Players having feedback on how the coach is going and what direction they want to go is hardly the same thing as players having too much power. I believe Cummins and Finch mean it when they say Langer did a really good job but that’s not incompatible with him having a few flaws and the team feeling a new coach with a lighter touch in the not too distant future might work better, as things had worked well in that respect over the last few months. But it’s not a job for life. And it’s not like a football coach who calls all the shots – it’s more of a lead support role in collaboration with the captain and leaders of the team. “Of course, the three players were punished with a ban. But it was the head coach Lehmann who had to face the wrath of the public.” No, the three players faced the wrath of the public. Even more so in many ways.

Sorry Jeff no, meant to be standalone, must have just finished reading your as always insightful and erudite comment when I wrote it. I will fix immediately!

Was that reply meant for me?