How stupid could they be

Over 11,000 years ago there existed an island nation located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean populated by a noble and powerful race. The people of this land possessed great wealth thanks to the natural resources found throughout the length and breadth of their island. The island was a center for trade and commerce. The rulers of this land held sway over the people and land of their own island and well into Europe and Africa.

This was the island of Atlantis. They say they were a superior race.

Now eleven thousand years later, at the other end of mother earth there is another island may be as big as the mythical Atlantis, which consists of a group of people from a lineage of ex-convicts who now have elevated themselves to the position of posing as the superior race of the new millennium, especially in sports and more to the point in cricket. This is the island of Australia and the inhabitants of this island think that all the people who live in every other country are stupid.

Ironically it is not only the people who live in this island who think that they are descendants of aliens, but the very cricketers who take the field and who are supposed to act as ambassadors of the country depicting its culture and heritage are also guilty of acting in a foul manner on more than one occasion.

Some years ago the ‘black monkey’ incident between Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuirya and Darren Lehmann and then the McGrath-Sarwan on-the-field spat surfaced like festering wounds which were just covered with flimsy scabs. Then the world started taking notice of what these men were made of.

In the midst of these obnoxious men came the self appointed heroes like Darrell Hair and Ross Emmerson who went to the extent of calling Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan even when the bloke was bowling leg spinners. At the same time the story goes that the anti-Murali coup was a thing that was hatched outside the boundary lines and then craftily planned to explode right in the middle of a test match.

It goes without saying that through the Bradman and post Bradman era of cricket it has been Australia that has come out with the best combinations of world cricket. The names like Simpson, the Chappell brothers, Lillee, Thompson, Border, the Waugh brothers, Warne, McGrath and Ponting have brought about an acute sense of competitiveness in the world of cricket for the past six decades. They take their work very seriously and execute their work plans may be as how Sir Winston Churchill accomplished his missions during World War II. Australian cricket glows like a non-extinguishable beacon. But, from time to time the very cricketers who bring such accolades to their motherland just jump off the cliff and bring shame and hatred towards it.

Recently the Australian cricket had to rush into full damage control mode to preserve good relations with India after the incident at the Champions Trophy presentation.

The Australian players were under fire for their treatment of Indian board president Sharad Pawar who is also a minister of the Lok Sabha.

First it was non other than the Australian captain Ricky Pointing himself. Once winning the elusive Champions Trophy the Australian captain without trying to understand the culture and as to how the machinery works in the Indian sub-continent just tapped on the Indian Cricket Board President’s shoulder and indicated to him to get on with the show and hand over the trophy. This was followed by batsman Damien Martyn nudging Pawar out of the way as the Australians posed for their victory photographs on the presentation dais in Mumbai.

The two cricketers involved have apologized to the relevant people since. However the World Cricket authorities led by former Australian cricket chief Malcolm Speed have not thought this was another incident of bringing the game into disrepute --graver than the crime committed by Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq for his act against the decision of Australian umpire Darrell Hair who tried to make them a bunch of cheats.

At the same time it was very intriguing to note how the ICC played the whole incident down and side-stepped the whole incident just the way an Australian Rugby Union centre would do at any international encounter. I at times wonder had Muttiah Muralitharan pushed the Australian Prime Minister John Howard who called him a chucker off a dais at a prize giving in Australia and how the “white” world of cricket including the ICC would have reacted?

The bonding fact in this is that when the ‘stars in the middle who the public idolize act in this manner in reciprocation the public also think that they too have the license to take a step further than their peers. As a result there started racial abuse in the Australian public stands. Then the ICC officially had to take action against racial abuse at cricket matches.

As a matter of fact this happened only when the ‘white’ world of cricket was jolted when the South African cricketers became the target of racial abuse during their last series played in Australia. The ICC was spot on when it soon brought upon laws to curb the menace. But, now the cancer has spread far too deep. An anguished South African captain Graeme Smith warned his ‘white’ brothers in England about the travails that they would have to face by carrying a bunch of Asian descents along with them.

Though all those born in England can be called English, now there is a growing generation in England who come from foreign lineage and some of them are even different in the colour of their skin.

Just imagine calling the English left arm orthodox spinner Monty Panesar a stupid Indian. The Australian spectators called this English born Sikh subject a stupid Indian and wanted to talk to him in Indian.

For the elucidation of the Australian hecklers this must be said. Indians in reality are far from stupid and it is one of the fastest growing economic powers on the globe. If the hecklers are oblivious of this fact we justly could call racist Australian spectators a “bunch of stupids” who will live Down Under for ever more.