the unsporting behaviour of Punter and the Australians - WC 2011

It was just another meaningless match where Aussies streamrolled their minnow opponent – Canada who had some individual moments to savour.  Hiral Patel gave them a flier of start and some moments of anxiety to the ego boasted Oz attack.  Press is agog about one particular shot he played of Shaun Tait.  Tait thinks himself to be a thunder from the sky and it reportedly was a 148.5 thunderbolt bowled close to short of length. A good batsman would have handled with respect but this time a lesser known willow wielder dispatched nonchalantly over the ropes to leave him puffing.  It was thumped over cover for a six with disdain..  he was born in Ahmedabad and is only 19 -  he hooked Bret Lee for another six.  Ponting spoke of Sehwag on the way he played and made most of his runs around point area.   He ended up getting caught at third man – perhaps imitating the upar cut.

Australians are a good Team and have every chance of successfully defending the title but when pushed hard, they explode not only with their game but with emotions also.  They would call it playing the game the hard way, but it is only ugly exhibition of unbridled emotions not in a position to digest the good performances of others.

An irked Ponting lost his cool when going in for a skier of Harvir Baidwan and about to collide with mate Steven Smith.  Punter huffed and puffed and threw the ball down in fit of rage.  Probably his anger was an exhibition of ire on the way their bowlers were treated by Canadian batsmen.  

photo courtesy : the newindpress

Australian ugly behaviour is nothing new and Ponting leads them from the front.  When England was doing well in their land, in the Ashes series, he tried all tantrums trying to send Kevin Pietersen off the pitch appealing for an inside edge when replays conclusively showed that there was none.  Their bullying the Umpires and players alike and getting into arguments provoking the batsmen have been their age old tactics.  

The fact they get away with all such indecent behaviour perhaps adds…  recently in the  WC match against Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad, Ponting was distraught at his dismissal due to a spectacular throw from Chris Mpofu.  Run outs are common in cricket, one would have thought – but not for the Aussie skipper.  He was livid, mouthed expletives and went to dressing room in a rage – when the TV was showing the replay, he smashed it and broke it.  Most likely the mild mannered associations of India would have played their hand in diplomacy and would not even have lodged protest or called for compensation leaving the aggressor scot-free.  

This is not peculiar to Ponting but the tag goes with most of their sportsmen.  It was widely reported that when Indians won the Test series at home against Aussies, the Commonwealth Games 2010 was on.  Aussies were leading the table but the athletes reportedly abused Sachin and threw down a washing machine from the 8^th floor of the games village. It was sheer badmouthing and arson, unable to digest the great performance of the maestro and the team.  At that time, the MEA sought to downplay it as a minor incident.

Just imagine what will happen if a Srilankan were to express his dissatisfaction in the same way in Australia and see how their Press would react to that………..

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.