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The Roar

Lewis Atkins

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Joined October 2019

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Cricket and Manchester United

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Because CA didn’t want to be the ones to boot him. Langer wouldn’t go on his own so they made him an offer he could only refuse. CA are the snakes, not the players.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

I think the players did the proper thing. They raised it in house and made it clear that Langer’s position was untenable. If Cummins or anyone else had said publicly they wanted him gone it would have been bedlam. In public they said they respected him but weren’t going to say either way because of their respect for him. It was langer and his mates who launched a public campaign to keep him in the role. It was CA who were too weak to say “you’re out”. The players haven’t done anything wrong. Langer should’ve accepted he wasn’t going to be reappointed and announced he was stepping down after the ashes. Failing that, CA should have been honest and told him he’d lost the players and was out.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

I clearly say that CA’s handling was terrible. “Institutional cowardice…” as I type this I realise the editors have removed that paragraph. I originally described CA as “institutional cowardly” and “morally bankrupt”

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

Also I agree, the nastiness that was nascent reached fever pitch in the 90s and lasted till the end of my grade days in the late 2000s

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

The “cognitive dissonance” thing refers to watching, or playing, a match and holding the two opposed in your head simultaneously: “be a prick”/“I’m not a prick”

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

Like everyone else who has been through the Australian education system I was not “brought up on social marxism”. I discovered Marx myself and I am a Marxist; I even realise it. My writing on sport is heavily influenced by CLR James, author of Beyond a Boundary and a Trinidadian Marxist. This article has nothing to do with Marx or socialism as it is not examination of cricket’s economic structures and power bases. It as an examination and reminiscence of a toxic culture and the hope that culture may now be disposed with by the generation forced to endure it for so long.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

Cummins did say so to CA, as did Finch and Paine. In August last year.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

It isn’t the same as commenting publicly. And I have definitely done that, I’d be shocked if most haven’t. Complaining about your boss in the pub is an Australian tradition

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

The players had made clear they would not comment publicly but would express their views on Langer privately, which is what has happened. It’s not shocking they discussed this amongst themselves.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

That conversation was being written about weeks ago. It was a private conversation and Cummins has never said he wanted Langer to continue and said he shouldn’t be surprised to have not been offered longer, so don’t know where the hypocrisy is there. Langer was always going to. He could’ve left with dignity but cricket australia and his own public campaigning to remain made that impossible.

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

Who was forced out after Taylor became captain

Cricket's generation game is ugly, but Cummins' leadership shows the way of the future

Australia are definitely mediocre in the white ball games, almost a decade behind. In the Test arena I think they’re a good side who don’t execute fully, or ease off at the wrong time. Still well behind India and NZ. Totally agree re: NZ. Good shout for the tournament (though I think it’ll be an England/Pakistan final). I think the most impressive thing about New Zealand is that they don’t necessarily have the most talented players, though they have many, but they make selections based what skills are required and then the players who’ll exercise those skills best. They often win by forcing others to play the game their way rather than the conventional way. Brilliant and intelligent.

Can the Australian way win the T20 World Cup?

Don’t think it is. Wasn’t expecting us to get out of the group stages so we’ve over performed. That being said, given our infrastructure and wealth we should be targeting and planning for the final every tournament.

Can the Australian way win the T20 World Cup?

Crime rates have decreased in that time. Incarceration has increased.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

I’m not.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

I’ve read both. I prefer Marx, CLR James, Angela Davis, Engles, Rosa Luxembourg. “Former industrial towns” was a reference to the poverty and despair that is now endemic in the former American rust belt, being preyed upon by profiteering pharmaceutical companies.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

Nope. Not what I said. Taking the knee is a start. It should then be followed by more involved action.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

Exposure, conversation, setting an example are some benefits. It’s the bare minimum. That’s my point. It’s a start not an end. If you can’t do the bare minimum you’re going to do more. Obviously taking a knee is not going to solve racial inequality. It’s part of a wider and is a way of demonstrating popular support for that campaign.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

Yes they do. How is that relevant to the article?

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

Hey, criticise me and beliefs all you like. Call me a crazy, lefttard bleeding heart all you like. But the article was well written, damn it!

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

In the Northern Territory 100% of incarcerated minors are Aboriginal. Are you telling me no white children are committing crimes there? I don’t have other figures directly to hand, but the nature of policing is that it is focused first and foremost on poor areas. People of colour disproportionately live in poverty.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

I happily stand corrected on that point. I had read other articles which indicated otherwise and hadn’t seen that. However, I don’t think it changes anything substantially. Taking a new should not be controversial; you ask if racism is wrong, if you believe it is wrong you kneel. That de Kock feels so strongly he would withdraw from the side rather than act in solidarity with his teammates who are players of colour indicates how strongly he feels the other way. His presence and constant refusal would degrade team culture. If you can’t act to help your teammates, you have no place in the team.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

I don’t call de Kock a racist, I think it’s most likely he is ignorant of the world because he has lived in the bubble of elite sport since a very young age. It’s difficult to stand against a problem you’ve never seen because you wonder if it’s actually there. The problem is that de Kock will have heard his teammates speaks, past and former, and refuses to act in solidarity with them. That has a degrading effect on team culture and he indicates he thinks of himself as special and righteous.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

It’s possible to solve two problems once. The opioid epidemic in the US, and the devastation it’s causing in former industrial towns, is a tragedy cause the pharmaceutical industry’s greed and profiteering. It should be addressed but is not relevant to this discussion.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

The old South Africa was affluent for whites. Following apartheid, there was no serious redistribution of land and wealth and so inequality and poverty remained. That inequality and poverty still affects, overwhelmingly, black and other communities of colour.

There is something rotten in the Rainbow Nation

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