There is lot of noise on what has happened in Sydney and why harbhajan is banned even after no proof. All this has happened because Indian cricket team has busted the myth that Australian cricket team is unbeatable. In fact Australian team is like any other team. All their domination was because of their mind game. But off late the aggression shown by Indian team has exposed their mind game. So they panicked. They knew that they can loose this series. Which they could not tolerate. Look at the result Australian team which calls it self as mightiest has resorted to cheating and lie to win a test on its own soil. Indian team must not loose heart, they have done great job and proved that Australian team is as beatable (even on their own grounds) as any other team.

since yesterday i have decided not to ever associate my self with anything australian.(the australian wine in my cooler is already in bin alongwith fosters).

i will never go to australia , even as a tourist.

no wonder british sent the trash to australia, an island, so that the trash could not escape.

glenn mcgrath had been paid in kind by god for his personal troubles, so will the current members of the australian team pay, in life.

cheers

I hope that Symonds wasnt preaching that he got away with provocating Harbhajan. Symonds deserved to be banned too if justice has to be made.Rascist or not Symonds had no business to provoke a player.
Rascist comments - monkey isnt rascist in India , we call that on a lighter note to everyone.
Monkey is worshipped for health in India also .. how can the refree come up with some fancy ideas and intrepretations …
IF SYMONDS ISNT BANNED TOO, THEN ANOTHER UMPIRING DECISION GOING THE AUSTRALIA WAY.

New ICC rules:
After watching the test match, I feel some rules have to be incorporated by ICC to give the other teams a perfect clarification

(1) Ricky Ponting – (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED ) should be considered as the FOURTH UMPIRE. As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD umpires can seek the assistance of RICKY PONTING even if he is not on the field. This rule is to be made, so that every team should understand the importance of the FOURTH UMPIRE .

(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 metre distance), the batsman is to be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.

(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion. In case of THE CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY, this can be higher.

(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player scores a century. Any wrong decisions can be ignored as they will be paid huge bonus and will receive the backing of the AUSTRALIAN team and board.

(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.

(6) MATCH REFREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be considered for hearing. MATCH REFREES are to be given huge bonus if this rule is implemented.

(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA. This is to ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.

(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE : If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - “THE UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGTIRY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET” more than twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break records and create history in the game of CRICKET .

These rules will clarify better to the all teams VISITING AUSTRALIA .

S Khanna, your comments regarding Glenn McGrath being paid by God with his personal state of affairs are an absolute disgrace. I can only hope you posted those vulgar remarks without much consideration and quickly regretted it. If not, then I truly feel sorry for you.

and to all those deranged khannas and vermas on this siet- GUYS GET REAL, SMELL THE COFFEE.

how can you have ANY respect for a pansyass batting lineup full of “stars”but can’t last 2 frickin sessions????

deserve to lose, this bunch of sour grapes.

Calm down dear! Besides, a ‘monkey’ is five hundred quid - any fool knows that.

At times, I do despair.

The real issue.

W Jaffer - DROP
R Dravid - KEEP
VVS Laxman - KEEP
SR Tendulkar - KEEP
SC Ganguly - KEEP (it pains me to say so)
Yuvraj - DROP
MS Dhoni - KEEP
A Kumble - KEEP
H Singh - DROP/BAN
RP Singh - DROP
I Sharma - KEEP

V Sehwag - ADD
R Uthappa - ADD
IK Pathan - ADD
Z Khan - ADD

The Australians behaved disgracefully during the second Test.

But hey! Not one Australian player was reported, except Hogg, which was obviously tit for tat.

No complaints from the umpires.

No complaints from any cricket writer. Check it out. Not one compalint from any scribes until AFTER KUMBLE”S OUTBURST AFTER THE GAME.

Ponting immediately walked when given out LBW when the ball hit his bat first. The camera followed Ponting as he walked inside the dressing rooms and you could see him chuck his bat to the floor. So what!!!?? That was not on the ground or in front of spectators.

Does anybody have any proof of Australian players misbehaving in the first or second tests? Here is a clue: no, you don’t.

Ponting was acting on strict instructions from the match referee on racist slurs.

It is nonsensical for Kumble to say Ponting should not have followed instructions on this. Kumble got the same instructions and he said nothing at the time. He never protested to Procter at the time. Ponting showed integrity which is lacking in Kumble.

As for Ponting wanting H Singh out, get real!!!! You may have an argument if the Sydney Test was next. But Perth is not a happy hunting ground for spinners, and Adelaide (the next Test after that) is positively docile. Ponting will be salivating at the chance to play Singh at Perth.

Observer,

for some strange reason I just got your email that was meant as a reply to Breet Lee’s comments.

I don’t know how that worked out. LOL

BTW, you can’t KNOW what Harbhajan said. Only the witnesses can. You and I can have a opinion. And you are entitled to have as stupid opinion as you like. And you seem to have taken that option.

I accept Procter’s finding. Hansen is wrong.

Thanks

Mate.

anon,

Procter did not take the word of 3 against 2.

Tendulkar told Procter that he did not hear the abuse.

Procter did not disregard Tendulkar’s evidence. Procter’s findings regarding Tendulkar’s evidence is Procter repeating Tendulkar’s original claim that he did not hear. Link first hand (ie from Tendulkar ot Procter) where they have stated that. Tendulkar has never said a thing about Procter. People don’t read carefully enough.

How could Hansen take contradictory evidence from Tendulkar? Because Hansen called for a rehearing which meant that prior evidence was not taken into account.

Brendon, I’m not immature. I don’t believe everything I read. But I have read about various sledging incidents involving Australians from various reputable sources. While the one incident you’re talking about may not be true, lots of others certainly are. I personally find the McGrath-Sarwan spat one of the most distasteful cases of sledging. And please don’t bring in the argument of drawing the line somewhere (”keep the wives/girlfriends out of your abuse”), because McGrath certainly deserved to hear what Sarwan said. Let’s not forget the McGrath-Brandes exchange either.

Also, could you be a little more clear with what you said about Tendulkar and Procter/Hansen? You just wrote a bunch of sentences that seem to be incoherent and badly phrased.

Wow Brendon, for a change, most of your post made sense!

Indian batsmen don’t walk - true.
But when was the last time we appealed for a grounded catch?
When was the last time an Indian player sledging was big news?
How many times have Australia been criticized for their on-field antics compared to India?

To state that Australia’s only being targetted for being number one is simply cocky, dude. Be reasonable. There’s a limit to how you should show your agression on the field, and Australian cricketers have crossed that line way too many times compared to any other team. It doesn’t surprise me that such an incident involves Australia (again, going by the number of sleding incidents and controversies Australian players have been involved in).

Also, I’m not blaming Symonds for what McGrath did years ago. I’m simply pointing out the ‘legacy’ the current Australian cricket squad seems to have inherited and is carrying forward.

The last link you provided gave me a 404.

Where did you get your statistic from? (45 bookings versus 25)

Video 1 - K. Pieterson… funny, I don’t remember there being an agreement between the captains regarding calling for the right judgment, which there was in this series, which Ponting broke. Maybe it was because of that catch that the teams agreed for the captain to make the right call regarding grounded catches. Ponting made the wrong call. He broke an agreement.

Video 2 - Ganguly. He appealed. Did you also see that he apologized after his mistake was pointed out? Or did you just read the name of the video and post a link to it?

Video 3 - Wow, that’s your best shot? Harbhajan saying “Fuck you” to Pieterson? Holy fuck, man! Have you not read ANY of the many lists on the internet that list Aussie sledging, or do you choose to see only what you want to see and hear what you want to hear?

Sri Lanka are the worst? Really? Which international cricketers say that? Have you got proof? Because based on what I’ve been reading in the news for the last few years, EVERY cricket playing nation in the world has had something (bad) to say about the Australians’ on-field behaviour.

And I still want to see where you pulled out the 45-vs-25 statistic. I also want to see what those bookings were for. And most importantly, I want to see how many games were played by the 2 teams in the same time period. When you post some statistics up, make sure you can back them up with some credible source. Otherwise it looks like you’ve just pulled them out of your arse.

Sorry Brendon, but that’s a cop-out.

I didn’t find Harbhajan’s behaviour funny (in the video you sent). What I asked was whether that’s what you call ‘bad’ compared to the sledging incidents involving so many Australians. A simple “Fuck You” isn’t as bad as “What does Brian Lara’s cock taste like?”, for example.

As for your 25-vs-45 statistic, balls to it unless you can come up with something to back it up, like I said. YOU are the one claiming that statistic. I have the right to question it. If you can’t back it up, then it’s thrown out of the window.

You’re done arguing with me because you have nothing to say. I’ve taken all your points and grinded them fine. You’ve got nothing new, nothing solid. It’s a common (but childish) defense line that when you’re losing an argument, you come up with the crap you did in your last post.

Statistics for which you don’t seem to be able to find any proof seem to be your best friend. When you have something SOLID to back your claims up, we can talk.

And for the record, yes, I do find Indians’ behaviour faulty a lot of times, but definitely not as many times as I do find fault with the Australians’ on-field behaviour.

Frankly, I feel I’m wasting my time with you. You don’t seem to be capable of accepting when your cricketers are at fault at all. You’re not likely to change your opinion no matter how much I beat your useless semi made-up statements with my logic and strong argument. Have a nice life, Brendon.

Oh look! An Australian paper’s story on “India’s cricket bad boys”! Certainly an unbiased source if I ever knew one!

And in case you’ve read the entire article through, you will notice:

West Indian great Michael Holding, who travels the world as a commentator, says the Indians are by no means well behaved, but says they are among the best of a bad bunch.

“I have seen a lot of all the teams and I don’t find India to be the worst, not at all,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say they are well behaved, but they are not the worst. These days there aren’t too many well-behaved teams in cricket. Unfortunately, the game has become win at all costs - whatever it takes to win.”

Apart from that, don’t you put your words into my mouth, young man! I never said Indian players are angels or that they’re never wrong.

I have said that Australia are worse, though. Their over-aggression has crossed the line several times, and it would take an incident like this to make them aware that the rest of the world won’t let them monopolize and control international cricket the way they want, or that all other teams are going to let Australia get away with anything they do or say.

Harbhajan was wrong to abuse, but see the video again, and notice that it was Symonds who provoked him.

I also don’t care about Australians not walking. Batsmen have a right to wait until an umpire’s decision. What I have been dissing is Ponting’s nod to a grounded catch DESPITE an agreement between the captain to play within the spirit of the game and only agree to a close catch if the captain was sure beyond doubt that it was a clean catch.

anon,

Cricket is a sport. Not a religion. Nor is it barometer of your country’s worth. Or even yourself.

I get the feeling you think it is.

you seem to be surprised about the figures. Well, maybe your press has misinformed you over the years. Maybe all the flag waving blinded you.

you asked me for a source of the figures and I gave it. I did not demand you follow the opinion of the writer.

While you can take or leave the writer’s editorial, the figures speak for themselves. Any spin you put on them is also applicable to every other team’s sanctions. Its all relative.

I have never said Australians were perfect. We used to be the worst sledgers in the game. But at least when they have made over the top slurs and been reported for it, they have copped it sweet and not complained. Darren Lehman is an example.

Of course the writer is giving a pro Aussie slant. But as you point out he puts in other people’s opinions such as Holding’s. But Holding is no longer a player. Not for along while.

There are no large contigent of current international players accusing current Australian players of over the top sledging these days. McGrath no longer plays. I even found his demeanour boorish. Offensive sledging was eased out of Australian cricket culture from half way thru Steve Waugh’s captaincy. Under Ponting, Australia has been well behaved. The only stories I read in the papers are opinion based on things from a few years back.

The worst behaved player from both sides this series was Harbhajan. Not including the racist remark. He had used up any goodwill he may have had from the Australians by that time. I don’t think any other Indian player would have been silly enough to make a racist slur.

I went to see the Melbourne Test, and both sides were well behaved.

Brendon, why is it that you take whatever your media feeds you?

1. The article has a very clear Aussie slant. Including others’ opinions doesn’t give it any more credibility than it deserves.

2. Holdings is a former player who doesn’t play any more. So his opinion doesn’t count? What about umpires. Most of them have either never played at international level or have retired long back. What about players of stature and importance, whose opinions DO matter BECAUSE of their experience while they played the game. Bloody hell, man! You’re far too damn quick to dismiss any opinion you don’t like for any bullshit reason you can come up with! Pathetic!

3. Your ’source’ is a biased newspaper story, my friend. I can write a blog post about statistics, without giving full information about them, and it would mean as much as your newspaper. If you really want to use those statistics, use them in entirety. Do some research and build a proper argument.

4. Not every Indian treats Cricket as a religion. That’s another piece of crap opinion your media probably fed you, and you accepted whole-heartedly. I know that cricket is just a sport played by HUMAN BEINGS who make mistakes. The behaviour of 11 players on the field (or about 15 off the field) does NOT reflect on a nation of more than 1 billion people. The only reason I engaged you in argument is because your first couple of posts were piles of bullshit.

Anyway, this is my last post here. I don’t have time to argue with a kid. But to give you credit, I agreed with most of what you’ve written in your LAST post.

There’s a link “Manage your subscriptions” under the comment form. I’m going to unsubscribe from this post, so that I no longer get e-mail updates when you or anyone else posts a reply here.

Have a nice life, and have a nice Triangular Series.

Harbajan said one day we will sell you in indian market like animal.

and it is true now

if one of my openents abused one of my team mates i wouldnt go and bitich about it To the umpire. I’d stand up for my mate and give him what for. Just like Symonds.