England cricket supremo Giles Clarke has pleaded with fans to stop booing Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the Ashes series.
Ponting has been subjected to prolonged jeering and booing walking out to bat at Lord’s and Edgbaston, the English crowds enjoying the opportunity to try to get under his skin.
But England and Wales Cricket Broad chairman Clarke has written in the Headingley match program that Ponting has earned the respect and courtesy of the crowd and that the game may never see his like again.
He asks supporters to respect both teams in the critical clash starting Friday with England leading 1-0 with two matches to play.
English cricket crowds have become more raucous in the last two Ashes tours as the home side has asserted itself after years of demoralising results against Australia.
Ponting maintained that he wasn’t bothered by the crowd’s cold response to him.
“I am told that some people have been upset about the fact that some English fans were booing me, but I thought it was a terrific atmosphere to play in,” he wrote in his column in The Times.
And Australian middle order batsman Marcus North said the rest of the players weren’t bothered by the vocal crowds.
“It’s part and parcel of the game now,” North said.
“A lot of us get booed out there. That’s the home-ground advantage, I guess.
“The atmosphere when playing Test cricket here is great, even though, without a doubt, the crowd is into us.
“When England come and play in Australia, its exactly the same for them.”
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