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Natural born prejudices?
By Will 5 months ago, 9 Comments »
A thought-provoking piece from Soumya Bhattacharya who tells India to grow up:
I thought of it because in that swirl of emotions, we Indians have tended to lose sight of a problem we need to tackle: we are still in denial that we are a deeply racist country. Often, we are racist although we are not conscious of being so. (It’s time we were.) We, with our fondness for light skin tones, tend to be prejudiced against those with darker ones. We don’t think of it as racism. But the world does. And it is. It can’t go on. We need to grow up.
A few examples. In the aftermath of the overturning of the ban, a board administrator was quoted as having said something like: “We shall not stand for our boys being called racists.” Our boys? Racists? Gosh. Cue incredulity, shock, horror. (Denial.)
Don’t shoot the messenger, etc
9 Comments »Where’s the charm?
By Will 6 months ago, 3 Comments »
A fine and balanced piece by John Benaud in today’s Independent on Sunday. So good, in fact, that I’m pasting it below.
3 Comments »Cricket is always having crises. Books are written and entitled, inevitably, ‘Cricket At The Crossroads’. You’ll recall Bodyline, the World Series Cricket breakaway… and in between the occasional tuppenny bunger, like pathetic over-rates, chucking and so on. Generally, there’s a good guy and a bad guy, and in the above real-deal controversies Douglas Jardine and Kerry Packer were nasties.
The India captain Anil Kumble’s self-indulgent hijacking of “good guy” Australia captain Bill Woodfull’s line “only one team is playing cricket”, uttered during the 1932-33 Bodyline series, was immediately spotted by us cynics with “ocker” accents as code for: “My team have just lost a Test nobody thought they could and I’d like you all to bag nasty Australia and their captain instead of me, in case back home they think we’re the bad guys and torch our houses.”
Ponting is tactically dull, abrasive, prone to snap and a sometimes ungracious winner, but of more urgent concern than any character study of him is the bunch of no-hopers who wander/administer aimlessly under the abbreviatedanonymity of “The ICC”.
One can only guess how embarrassing it must be to have anyone know you are officially part of the International Cricket Council and your claim to fame is the absolute shambles that passes for world cricket in 2008. Put the chief executive, Malcolm Speed, and his team in the dock and even Rumpole’s most junior solicitor could win, his case rested on the evidence of the World Cup last year.
Laws have been changed to accommodate bowlers who throw; the Darrell Hair case remains impossible to fathom, at least for those of us who played and understood the spirit of the game before the ICC lawyers measured out their runs; the crooks of Zimbabwe are rewarded with ongoing recognition; and now a talented umpire who has a bad game can be sent home.
There was a time when the greatest insult to an Australian cricketer was to mention the phrase “no sheep in the top paddock”. After the SCG Test the words “monkey” and “bastard” are apparently offensive. Speed and Co have a new challenge: compile a dictionary of words that are offensive to the modern cricketer, or his culture.
Before they make bigger asses of themselves they should recall the Collis King incident, Mount Smart Stadium, New Zealand, 1978. King, a most talented West Indian all-rounder then playing in World Series Cricket, took a terrible blow to the right groin and collapsed. The physio applied the magic “freeze” spray, but to no avail, and the stretcher arrived. This roused King, who looked down at his “magic-sprayed” groin, sat up abruptly and announced: “Jesus, I’m turning white; quick, spray me all over!”
Past players think modern cricket has no sense of humour, subtlety, finesse and characters, and little goodwill; that it lacks a certain class, charm even. Here’s proof: in 1961, Australia’s Richie Benaud and West Indies’ Frank Worrell agreed pre-series to “have some fun”.
In 2008, when Ponting and Kumble met before the start of the series, it was to discuss how best to defuse an evolving problem: fielders claiming catches that bounce. Cheating.
The ICC, with a little pressure from the odd cricket board, will surely find a way to legalise that in no time.
On effigies, cheating and monkeys
By Jonathan Liew 6 months ago, 56 Comments »
This has all the makings of an Asia-Rest of the World showdown that has been threatening a denouement for several years now. I really hope not.
But first things first: fire and the burning of effigies don’t exactly have the same significance they might have in Britain or Australia. Fire is an intrinsic part of Indian culture - at a Hindu wedding, for example, a fire sacrifice is made, and the bride and groom have to walk around it seven times. And nobody really takes the death threats seriously. And the donkey thing - well, that was just funny. Some of Benson’s Kent team mates will have had a good chuckle at that.
As for cheating - well, there’s no evidence anybody deliberately cheated. Walking is nice, but not compulsory, and while some of the appealing and catch-claiming was pure, cynical gamesmanship, it wasn’t illegal. It’s therefore a disciplinary issue alone, to be discussed at length in an air-conditioned room with plenty of cold drinks available.
And the ‘racist slur’ - it doesn’t really matter if the word ‘monkey’ is racist or not. We can’t be sure it was said. There was certainly enough evidence to charge Harbhajan (and possibly Symonds too) with verbal abuse, but Mike Proctor and the ICC are really going to wish they hadn’t opened up the whole ‘racist’ can of worms. How - I mean, honestly, how - did they think this was going to end?
But however wronged India may feel, they’re forgetting rule number one of cricket - get on the field and play. You can get angry afterwards. Let’s hope that the TV companies have a quiet word with the BCCI. Perhaps money can achieve what diplomacy clearly can’t.
56 Comments »Here come the effigies
By Will 6 months ago, 36 Comments »
Surprisingly delayed, but here come the effigies of the three doomed members of the Sydney Test: Ricky “boooo” Ponting; Steve “Edges” Bucknor. And Mark “give us a” Benson:
Here’s how to make your point. LOTS OF FLAMES AND FIRE AND BURNING THINGS:
I have to tip my hat to this one though. Inspired use of the roadside donkey:
All in all, a disgraceful turn of events. Let them abandon it and let them bugger off home. Just spoken to my Indian friend who diplomatically asked my opinions on it. I told him how India have dug themselves a hole, and continue to act as though Australia have nicked their dummy. He and his mates, all Indian, agree. I fear he and they are in the minority.
Get over it.
36 Comments »Video of Harbhajan and Symonds sledging
By Will 6 months ago, 41 Comments »
Well why not? Here are the winning pair in their now infamous day three tussle. The best line is from Ian Chappell right at the end, when he says “I’m not sure Matthew Hayden would be my choice as UN peace-keeper”. Hayden was an intermediary, stepping in to break things up.
Click here if you can’t see the video above.
41 Comments »Harbhajan banned; India apoplectic
By Will 6 months ago, 57 Comments »
So Harbhajan Singh has been banned for three Tests after calling Andrew Symonds a monkey. This is the correct decision, but the fallout could be quite monstrously messy.
There are already reports (from the never-really-to-be-trusted Press Trust of India) that India are considering abandoning their tour of Australia. Judging by the splenetic feedback we received today at Cricinfo (much of it was unprintable and vile), the issue many people have isn’t with Harbhajan but the umpires. I watched a TV news channel in India hold an impromptu discussion surrounding it. “Umpired out in Sydney” screamed the headline. “India fall victim of umpires” read another. One member of the audience said that if Bucknor were to visit India, he wouldn’t return alive. It was greeted with warm applause.
Yes, India, I’m afraid you were victim of some absolutely horrific umpiring decisions and I’m sure Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor will be penalised accordingly. But do not expect players to walk: this is not part of cricketers’ clauses in their contract. It is up to the umpires to adjudge whether a player is out or not and, if they say it’s not out - then live with it. There is a vast amount of luck involved in sport; what comes around goes around.
Frankly, I find the BCCI’s decision to demand an investigation into the umpiring pathetic. Every other country has series like these, where decisions go against them, but everything related to Indian cricket seems to be magnified to an extraordinary level; that they are victimised and the whole cricket world is against them, when it is not. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Indian government get involved in the next few days.
Equally, the attitude of Ricky Ponting and some of the Australians was extraordinary in the extreme. Appealing to Benson for Dravid’s wicket, which was turned down, Ponting sunk to his knees and was muttering away as though nothing had gone Australia’s way in the entire Test. Come off it, Ricky. In situations like these, when you’ve clearly had the immense rub of the green, some diplomacy and dignity would count for rather a lot.
What a shambles. Happy new year everyone.
57 Comments »Symonds was called a ‘monkey’ by Harbhajan
By Will 6 months ago, 99 Comments »
This is very messy indeed. Apparently - and this is to be taken with a bucketful of salt - Harbhajan Singh called Andrew Symonds a monkey during their altercation yesterday. This is according to Chetan Chauhan, the India team manager, who also says the term “monkey” isn’t derogatory in India. That may be the case, but neither is it a glowing term of endearment; given the history between the pair, this excuse is pretty pathetic and smacks of a management desperately bailing themselves out. The whole affair needs nipping in the bud immediately, beginning with banning Harbhajan for the default period of such an offence (I think it’s either two Tests or four ODIs).
The problem some people will have, I imagine, is one of double standards; that Australia are allowed to sledge and no one else is. Sledging isn’t (or shouldn’t be) racist. Harbhajan’s alleged term isn’t a sledge, it’s a racist slur.
It’s pretty depressing that it should overshadow what has been a fascinating Test by all accounts. Worse still, what impact will this case have on the future of international cricket? Last year, I went to a number of Associate matches in Kenya and Ireland. And before each game, a variant of the following rule (clause 3.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct) was read out (at most of Kenya’s venues, but only some in Ireland because the PA often forgot):
…language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethic origin…
How crap and depressing it would be if this became standard practice at all international games. But, in the world we live in these days, this could easily become the norm.
Your thoughts on the issue are welcome.
99 Comments »Notes from the pavilion for October 20th
By Will last year, mid-October, No Comments; be the first!
Links of note from the past 24 hours:
- Trevin Bastiampillai - What a brilliant name
- Howard gives $6.5m for Bradman museum -
- Don and Pup bring cricket history to life - Clarke does the one-stump trick ala Bradman in an Australian TV commercial. Anyone got the video to share?
- Strain tells on Symonds - Victimisation by the media? This is out of control
Notes from the pavilion for October 17th
By Will last year, mid-October, 1 Comment »
Links of note from the past 24 hours:
- Cricinfo - Monkey chants controversy in Mumbai too - This is becoming increasingly uncomfortable…
- Cricinfo - Jones set for Worcestershire move - Is this the most expensive hospital pass in cricket transfer history? Come on…how long will he last, seriously?
- Cricinfo - Harmison signs for Lions - This will be worth keeping a close eye on
- The ageless Kim Barnett - He’s still going strong. At 47
‘World cricket all but paralysed’
By Will last year, mid-October, 31 Comments »
You know your sport’s in a real mess when, in the space of 12 months, it can host a disastrous World Cup; investigate a murder; have an umpire take the game’s governing body to court; host a much more successful World Cup six months later but not call it a World Cup. Oh, and racism has popped up its ugly duplicitous head again.
The ICC has lost all credibility. I don’t know of another governing body in any sport which is quite so dysfunctional, and this latest spate of racism will further divide the Members unless the ICC - and India - act now. I refer you to Patrick Smith’s excellent column:
WORLD cricket is all but paralysed. The ruling body cannot make a decision that is not compromised. Bowling has been reduced to throwing, umpiring to the art of convenience, racial abuse to a point of view. Player behaviour teeters on the brink of violence.
Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran is outside the law, so change the law and not the action. The ICC considers Darrell Hair umpires by the book and is not a buddy of the players. Sack him.
Pakistan and India refuse to appoint officers to investigate racism in the sport. The ICC has been reduced to writing letters that are ignored and beating the heat in Dubai. Apparently Pakistan and India players and supporters can only be offended and never offensive.
Racial vilification has been redefined. What is said is no longer critical, but who says it to whom is at its heart. So Symonds is vilified by Indian supporters and it goes unheard and ignored. CA whimpers its concern but fails to report the matter officially.
I don’t believe any sport is rife with racism. Not at all. But sportsmen are as much members of society as the rest of us, and we are living in a confused and fragmented world these days. Sport can reflect that with uncomfortable clarity.
31 Comments »Darrell Hair under the spotlight
By Will last year, at the end of September, 24 Comments »
Darrell Hair, the rotund Australian umpire, returns to the back pages of newspapers and homepages of websites next week when he appears at a London tribunal. Hair is suing his employers, the ICC, for racial discrimination - and here’s a brief overview of why.
England v Pakistan, 4th Test, The Oval, 4th day. August 20, 2006. Five penalty runs are awarded to England when Hair signal to the umpires of his conviction that the ball has been tampered with.
An early tea is taken, but Pakistan stage a protest after the interval and refuse to play. Hair, his colleague, Billy Doctrove, and the two England batsman walk out alone and wait for 15 minutes before the covers are brought on signalling the end of play.
Pakistan eventually do make it out onto the field, but by this stage Hair and Doctrove have already decided that the match has been awarded to England.
Cricket’s Law 21.3: “in the opinion of the umpires, if a team refuses to play, the umpires shall award the match to the other side.”
The match was then forfeited, England winning. In the following days it seemed likely that Hair’s position was increasingly untenable, with the Asian bloc threatening to gang up on him. So he responded in a quite remarkable manner by offering to leave, but only for a retainer of $500,000. This was a huge mistake and the ICC exploited his greed by revealing all, as they should have done.
In November he was banned from umpiring in internationals, owing to immense pressure from the Asian bloc who voted for his removal. England, Australia and New Zealand were the three who wanted him to stay. Billy Doctrove’s career, however, could continue and he was not banned.
In February he instructed his lawyers, Finers Stephens Innocent, to issue an application to the London Central Employment Tribunal alleging racial discrimination.
And this all kicks off on Monday, so I thought it best I get my head around it all beforehand. And there’s another twist: Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has been summoned as a witness. If he doesn’t turn up - this is Inzy, remember - the tribunal have the authority to issue sanctions which could then lead to his arrest.
Nasty times. Keep your eyes peeled on Cricinfo for the latest.
24 Comments »Racism schmacism; get on with the cricket
By Will last year, mid-January, 8 Comments »
Chris Broad has a fairly unenviable job and much of his blog is a diary of the standard of airport lounges and hotels he comes across. All jolly interesting, but this latest post was much more like it: his handling of the Herschelle Gibbs ban.
Almost half the SA side accompanied Gibbs into the hearing which made things very cosy because I also had the Pakistan management and the captain in our small umpires’ room. There was a lot of frank discussion with SA defending their man but Pakistan saying how hurt they were by the remarks. After 45 minutes of chat and counter chat both side had just about finished so I adjourned the hearing so that I could get my head around what had been said and come to a decision. I made that decision after calling the players back to the room and I could get away from the fact that the remarks, however provoked were racial and were offensive to the Pakistanis. I was left with no option but to ban Gibbs for 2 Test matches. This is the worst part of my job because I was very passionate about the game when I played and I sometimes boiled over at instances that happened but this has to be stamped on as racial abuse, whether it’s player on player or crowd to player or player to crowd, must be eradicated.
I trust this will be the last we hear of this subject in this series and I hope Cricket SA take the case of crowd control very seriously because this is how the whole ugly incident began!
Indeed so.
Racial issues are understandably eggshellish. And while everyone and their uncle rightly wants it stamped out, it’s somewhat complacent, irresponsible and naive to just state this without any suggestions as to how it can be achieved. It irritates me that the ICC, in particular, tend to puff out their moral chests and beat the anti-racism drum…without actually doing anything about it. However, in their defence I don’t necessarily believe the that this is cricket’s problem. It’s far, far wider than the sport; this is about a confused society.
The disappointing aspect is that cricket, often the bridge between cultures and societies, seems to be acting as the catalyst. Or worse, a forum for other people’s warped opinions and abuse.
Broad is right. Cricket SA need to get hold of these supporters and never let them back in. However, just don’t let them, or any other board for that matter, mirror the dictatorial practices enforced by Cricket Australia…
8 Comments »Yeah, but what was he doing in the broadcast box in the first place?
By Scott 2 years ago, mid-August, 20 Comments »
I was only mildly surprised to hear that Dean Jones had shot himself in the foot and shot his commentating career to Hell by making an outrageous remark about Hashim Amla.
Cricket watchers know Deano is not above making stupid remarks. His commentating career has demonstrated that he is an inexhaustable fund of imbecilic remarks. He covered Australia’s 2004 tour of India and drove me to distraction with his inanities. He mostly talks in cliches. In fact, he can talk in cliches till the cows come home.
In truth, he’s always been a self-centred and rather thoughtless individual who has a poor record of putting his mouth into action before engaging his brain. As a player, he alienated his team-mates with Australia, Victoria and even with Derbyshire. His file as a player, for all his brilliance as a batsman, was undoubtedly scarred with his ‘poor team player’ reputation.
I only needed one day of hearing Dean Jones as a commentator to understand that he was patently unsuitable for the position. He is constantly inflicted on Asian audiences, I guess because of his supposed credibility gained by playing 52 Tests for Australia. However, in those 52 Test matches, he learned nothing about what is required to be a broadcaster.
Quite rightly a lot of the focus of this controversy will fall onto Jones, for his disgraceful remarks. However, his employer, Ten Sports, also deserve a full measure of disapproval, for hiring someone who had a demonstrated inability to perform the fairly important job of cricket commentator with an appropriate degree of professionalism.
No doubt it is helpful to have played the game at at least first class level. However, playing ability is not broadcasting ability. The doyenne of television broadcasters, Richie Benaud, made a point of staying in England after Australia’s 1956 tour of England, to undertake a sports broadcasting course conducted by the BBC. He was also a trained newspaper journalist, in an era when Australian cricketers had to have a separate career. No million dollar salaries back then. So Benaud, who became the model of the player broadcaster, came to the microphone with a thorough and thoughtful understanding of the television industry. Few of his successors as player-broadcasters have had such a background, and it shows.
The appropriate model is perhaps the old fashioned radio model, where a professional journalist does the ball-by-ball comments, and the old player provides the expert commentary. On radio, the old pro has time to gather his thoughts, and thus (hopefully) sparing himself the embarrassment that Jones has put himself though. In one way, I suppose it is sad that Jones has self destructed in this way. But I ask you, what was he doing in that broadcast box in the first place?
20 Comments »The Dean Jones ‘terrorist’ remark
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of August, 33 Comments »
This struck me as the most stupid, irresponsible comment I have heard from a TV analyst on the game since, well…since for ever.
Dean Jones - an aggressive batsman turned chirpy, excitable commentator - said the following (which I put on CI…too tired to rewrite it, sorry)
Dean Jones, the former Australia Test batsman turned TV commentator, has been sacked by his employers, Ten Sports, after being heard calling Hashim Amla a ‘terrorist’ on live television during the fourth day’s play between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Colombo.
When Amla, who is a devout Muslim, took the catch to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara, Jones was heard to say “the terrorist has got another wicket”.
Even if this was said in jest, and there is no indication that it was, you can’t offer such flippant, racist remarks on live TV. Those that know Jones, and I’m not one of them, will no doubt argue that he is not a racist - and, to be honest, such a statement does not make him one either. It’s just bloody stupid, upsetting for Hashim Amla’s family and not something you would expect anyone in the public eye to get away with.
And he hasn’t. He’s been flown back to Australia immediately and has lost his job. Can’t see him ever coaching India, if indeed he wanted to, or working in cricket again.
Scott is going to follow this up in a separate piece some time in the morning. Your thoughts in the meantime are very welcome…I imagine this could go on for some time.
33 Comments »Bath Dodgers to continue to taunt convicts
By Scott 2 years ago, at the end of March, 2 Comments »
Big-mouthed banter between English and Australian supporters is set to continue despite hyper-sensitive ICC officials worried about racism.
The Fanatics and the Barmy Army yesterday both vowed to ignore “political correctness gone mad” and continue peppering opposing teams and fans with good-natured banter this summer.
Their comments come in response to suggestions the old barb “Pommy bastard” may fall foul of cricket’s crackdown on crowd racism.
The issue came to a head this week when an ICC report found “premeditated racist abuse occurred toward South Africa and Sri Lanka during the past Australian summer.
But Cricket Australia’s stance on Australia and England’s friendly feud is over-cautious, according to the Barmy Army representative in Australia Craig Gill.
“Where will it ever stop?” Gill asked. “‘Pommy Bastard’ has been used for years and years and it’s going to be used over and over again.
“As long as it’s said in the name of good humour and good banter no one is going to get upset.”
“Bring it on I say … we’ll definitely be singing about Aussie convicts coming here in chains.”
Last night an England cricket spokesman agreed, saying from London: “It would be more of a surprise if we didn’t hear it (Pommy bastard). Some of the lads probably see it as a term of endearment.
“One of the great attractions of an Ashes series is the fierce competition and good spirit.
“But everyone in world cricket is aware there’s a fine line between fierce rivalry and racism that should never be crossed.”
Which gives me the notion that I should distribute bars of soap to the Barmy Army when they come to Adelaide this summer!
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