Imagine a youngster born in Australia moved to Pakistan when he was four.
Let’s call him Dale Kerrigan, for the sake of the exercise, who comes from a long line of Kerrigans who decided to hop over the back fence of their castle to the airport and fly to another country in search of a better life.
And young Dale turns out to be a gun cricketer who elects to represent his adopted nation of Pakistan and returns to Australia to face the baggy green brigade in Test cricket, smashing them for hundreds with ease.
What kind of reception do you think he would get?
The sad fact is many Australian cricket fans would boo, berate and condemn someone for being disloyal, turning their back on their nation of birth.
Australian cricket fans can learn a lot from Pakistan’s treatment of Usman Khawaja in the Benaud-Qadir Trophy series.
Khawaja, who moved to Sydney when his family emigrated before he’d started kindergarten, is being warmly embraced by cricket fans, indeed the entire nation, since he arrived in Pakistan a month ago for the historic first Australian tour since 1998.
He has been adored by the locals, who have chanted his name, held up signs to show their support and been the models of hospitality despite Khawaja proving to be a constant thorn in their side throughout the series.
After Khawaja followed up his first-innings 97 with 104 not out in the second dig of the third Test at Lahore, his lifted his series aggregate to 496 at an astonishing average of 165.33.
When he scored his other ton in Karachi, the 35-year-old opener said the fans had made the moment one he would never forget, particularly given his family ties to the city.
“I was born in Islamabad but my family is all from Karachi so this one meant a lot,” he said, before adding about the fans: “I love it because you can tell they want Pakistan to win, even when I get out they’re cheering, you can tell they’re diehard Pakistani supporters, but they’re very supportive of me. It’s very nice.”
After his ton in Lahore, he said his purple patch of form in his homeland was something he would cherish.
“We weren’t sure whether we would be able to come to Pakistan at some stage, but now we have and it’s been a really good series,” Khawaja said. “It’s been fun, but you never expect these things.”
When it comes to players who could have represented Australia in cricket but opted to play elsewhere, there is a not-so-proud history of calling them traitors, abusing them for having the temerity to choose an alternative.
Martin McCague was born in Belfast but when his family fled to Australia due to the conflict in Northern Ireland, he developed into a handy cricketer for Western Australia. He was able to secure a lucrative English county contract without counting on the import quota due to his birth certificate and was selected to play for England.
It just so happened it was in the middle of Australia’s 1993 Ashes tour and he was labelled “the rat who joined the sinking ship” in a screaming headline by one Sydney tabloid newspaper.
Martin McCague is congratulated after dismissing Mark Taylor during the 1993 Ashes. (Photo by Graham Chadwick/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Adam and Ben Hollioake were born in Melbourne but also represented England after their family moved there when they were schoolboys and they also had their credentials questioned by the Australian media.
Like McCague, left-armer Alan Mullally was another fast bowler who grew up in WA but played for England, where he was born in the 1990s, and copped abuse from fans when he toured Down Under.
There have been several other examples in the rugby codes and other sports of players being lambasted for not choosing to represent Australia.
Surely it is not too simplistic to say isn’t it their choice, not anyone else’s, as to which nation they represent.
Perhaps times have changed now and the next time a cricketer or any other sportsperson who has dual eligibility tours Australia will not cop abuse from the outer or an even more faceless kind, from social media.
But it’s worth tipping your cap to the Pakistani fans for the way they have saluted Khawaja’s return even though he has been the biggest obstacle to their team beating Australia.
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
You're drawing a long bow in trying to make a parallel between the relationship between Australia and England as opposed to India and Pakistan. One is a harmonious government relationship that enables a confected rivalry to occur whenever they're on the sporting field. The other's sporting rivalry is a relief compared to how their governments get on. Australia was derived out of the British Empire, and to this day, has people defending the fact the British flag is on it. Ask any Pakistani how'd they'd feel if an insignia of Hindu India was adopted on their flag, and you'll clearly realise how inappropriate the comparison is.
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Love UsKha. He's sick. Glad he got to 50 tests and this series might just be his legacy. What's also great is that England is about to get smashed by the West Indies. They are 10 ahead, 2 wickets in hand. They should jolly well declare overnighr rather than going for meaningless runs to boost their averages.
Ghosthound
Roar Rookie
Agreed, the Pakistan fans have shown real class. I think the majority of Aussie fans would do likewise, but there would be that seemingly inevitable small minority of d-heads who would act like, well d-heads. Re the tabloid media, there’s a reason they’re known as the gutter press.
Kalva
Roar Rookie
McCague played for Aus U19 before switching to England. Hollioakes moved to England with their families when they were younger…similar to Josh Ingliss. McCague was mocked more for joining a poor team and then proving himself to not quite be good enough to play much for the poor team. And it’s not Aussie fans… KP got absolutely hammered the first time he went to SA as an England player but he still played really well. Trott by contrast barely had any problems in SA…maybe the personality makes a difference as well.
Liam
Guest
False equivalence, and a misplacement of blame. Were a player to go from Australia to Pakistan, live there as a Catholic and work their way up through their cricket setup over there, and were Australia suddenly such an unsafe place to visit for nigh on twenty years before Pakistan agreed to tour and then went on to tour above and beyond all expectation, your Dale Kerrigan would've garnered a pretty decent reception. As for the idea that we call those who played for England in Ashes series traitors, maybe because the Benaut Qadir trophy is not the Ashes, and the newspapers are the ones questioning McCague and the Hollioake bro's loyalty rather than the people. But then, this is very much a trend with you lot on the other end of an article, blaming the readers for your own flaws.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I haven't seen him, but apparently there are videos of him speaking Urdu. And given he didn't leave Pakistan until 5 and it would have been spoken at home once arriving in Australia, makes sense he would speak it.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
One of my besties knew them growing up and played cricket with Usi. He said Dad was always dead keen for him to play for Aus. As a by product, it's a good brag to the rellies back in the old country.
Ja ja klazo
Guest
After a series played in great spirits with a historic win for the Aussies, this is the take you choose? Why the negativity around Australian crowds?
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Helps that Usman is a really likeable fella, I’m sure. I wonder if he speaks some Urdu, and did some media interviews that increased his popularity even further, not that many Pakistanis don’t speak English. As for the examples from England teams, it’s a bit different. If you’ve grown up and learned your cricket in Australia and are only really playing for England because it’s easier to get a county contract, you’re bound to cop some flak. Same with lots of NZ, SA, Aus, Pasifika rugby players who have grown up and represented at provincial level in those countries and end up in British, Irish, French or Japanese national teams merely thanks to a few years’ residency or via a grandmother. The real problem is not the players though, it’s the international sporting bodies who allow this nonsense to happen, which makes a mockery of the idea of representative sport. Usman is not in this category as he moved here as a kid, not to take up a sporting contract.
Dan
Roar Rookie
Common denominator in all your examples is they played for England. How well would Khawaja have been received in an Indian shirt I wonder?
Kalva
Roar Rookie
Roland Butcher was the first Black man to represent England and he happened to make his Test debut in the Caribbean in 1981. He said recently there was a banner saying “Our Boy, Their Bat!”
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Simplistic analysis. Using one selected player’s (Usman’s) experience and contrasting it with another one or two select examples, to conclude a pattern. How did Luke Ronchi and Murray Goodwin fare btw?
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yes I'm sure his parents still consider themselves to be Pakistanis. It's the generation raised here that ultimately identifies with the new country apart from Usman there is also Labu and from non-cricketing circles my own daughter.
Danno
Roar Rookie
I don’t think the Aussie fans would of given him heaps , they applaud good players from overseas teams who do well in Australia , sangakarra , Tendulkar, and Viv Richards come to mind , I don’t think Usmans parents turned their back on Pakistan , it’s just that it’s always been a war torn region and who wouldn’t come to live in the lucky country down under given half a chance
Paul Suttor
Expert
very good point - the team have gone about their business has been first-class ... wasn't always the case, particulary back in the 90s when McCague, the Hollioakes and co were thrown to the wolves
U
Roar Rookie
Need a tissue?
jameswm
Roar Guru
Change in leadership.
Dirk
Guest
Auusies aren't known for their class
jameswm
Roar Guru
A lot of class shown by both teams and both sets of fans this series. May it continue.