Ok granted that its in Australians blood, then lets be fair and measure other teams using same yard stick. Why blame Sourav for his doings during australia series? Lets find and explain some cultural isssue for his behaviour, maybe its something to do with bengal. These are all silly explanations. If aussies are like that then they should respect others too and not complain. They can't expect that others will be nice to them. I still remember how australian team and media attacked ganguly during that series. Don't justify any such behaviour, its not right. Even south africans are aggressive but not like this. In any case i read your articles regularly and like them but this time, you are plain wrong. I also don't agree that australians don't use it as tactic. I can relate so many incidents in last 12 years where they tried to rattle Sachin everytime he came out to bat. Good old Sachin ended up scoring maximum runs against them without opening his mouth even once. ICC should take this issue and deal with it strongly and punish Mcgrath severely. Please don't indulge in false justification of your countrymen.
When McGrath gives a mouth full he should be sporting enough to take it back. The Aussie media here where up in arms against Sarwan's behaviour, what about the Aussie teams behaviour is this DOUBLE STANDARD or what. Culutre can not be made a excuse for this kind of behaviour after all AUSSIES have produced good sports personalities like Pat Rafter, Bradman etc...so could it be that they where less Aussie????
Daniel laidlaw is simply trying to defend Aussie team's behaviour. Every game should be a gentle-man's game. I can never be convinced that finger-pointing or sledging is sportsmanship. If that is part of a nation's culture, then that entire nation needs to behave and probably needs to include 'sporting behaviour' as part of school curriculum, so youngsters can behave like grown-up & responsible men on the field. Aussie cricketers look calm and collected when they are winning. However, the moment the other side fights back, Aussie mouths start spitting their well-known venom i.e. "targetting an individual who leads the fight". Ever since I have started following cricket, Australian cricket team always appeared to me as rude, arrogant and sore losers (when they lose). ICC should reprimand those upmires and referees who instead of taking strictest action, termed Aussie behaviour as 'gamesmanship'!
I am sorry, but did I just hear someone justifying sledging? The author did his best to cradle foul-mouthing within sheets of culture, however he has to do better that that for me to agree with him. All he did was prove that Aussies are, by nature, foul mouthed people...I disagree, as I have Aussie friends who are nice!!
There is no need to protect the Aussies...they are great cricketers, they are the champs, and they sledge. Getting defensive is not necessary...ICC has set new rules for chucking anyways, which says anyone can chuck to any extent without being reprimanded, as there is no agreeable definition of chucking (however ludicrous that might sound!!)...similarly ICC will have no difficulty in looking the other way when an Aussie sledges, as there is no agreeable definition of sledging...going by Mr Laidlaw's piece, as sledging is defined by culture (again, however ludicrous that might sound!!).
However, come fall and the Aussies will again have a taste of their own medicine, this time in their own backyard, from Ganguly's boys. These boys take no nonsense, and thanks to their leader, gives back what they get. So hey, we are not complaining...
what a way to justify sledgin.If Aussies are ready to give they should be sporting enough to take it too.Here the Aussie media was all up in arms when they heard what Sarwan said about McGrath's wife without knowing the context.
It took me some time to analyse Daniel Laidlaw's opinion and I think that at a strategic level, sledging is a great weapon that, if used cleverly, can be as effective as any other gameplan.
In fact, every sport I can think of uses this at some level or ther other, verbal or otherwise. It's part of the game.
And the Aussies do this beautifully. And they also keep winning!
Laidlaw is correct when he says that a cricket team reflect its country's society. Let me try and analyse other teams with that barometer:
India - politically sensitive (add secularism to that) Pakistan - constant changes in regime and performance England - stiff upper lip South Africa - don't know much about this country West Indies - Calypso! New Zealand - wannabe aussies
I really think the sledging issue is a non-issue - there are other serious matters about the game that all cricket lovers must worry about - spreading the game to other parts of the globe - there's a certain death otherwise. America - can you play cricket?
..So, Daniel continues the line of defence by saying 'Changing this approach would be like telling Gilchrist to bat conservatively or Lee to bowl medium pace. It is against the nature of the team'..well there are others who bat as agressively without opening their mouth & bowl faster than(non-chucked deliveries of)Lee, so what about it? You say in aussie culture cursing is not taken offensively unless intended maliciously! So who is the "maliciousness" judge? And what if in Indian culture even malicious cursing was not taken seriously, would the aussies bear it? Ask McGrath, who mis-heard(/interpreted) a Sarvan jibe to be malicious and burst open his social seams on the pitch! Then you go into some weirdo, long-lost, stuff about WG Grace running someone out so aussies dont trust english anymore, hence they dont believe cricket is a gentleman's game, hence they abuse others on the field (seriously since they play tough, but not offensively as its not malicious!)..yes Mr Laidlaw, this is how ridiculous your article sounds. Whether it was your intention or not, your article ends up defending&justifying aussie behaviour. Analyze it. Would u b writing same if they were not champions??
The column starts off well by explaining that aussie behaviour arises from their cultural and social environment, but then goes into in-explicable defence of the whole thing! Daniel says "What this overlooks is that sledging is not something Australia really engages in as a tactic, but is more of a by-product of their aggressive and confrontational approach to the game"!! Try convincing Steve Waugh who has openly called the on-field verbals as part of well planned(and executed)tactical move termed beautifully as 'mental disintegration'! The aussies have visibly benefitted in many cases by abusing the batsmen & making him turn more reckless and responsive! True, they would still have been the best team without it, but not by this great a margin, especailly in ODIs where a crucial wicket at right time changes the whole game. Daniel also says that its an extension of positive behaviour of aussies shown in 'fast scoring, mental toughness, teamwork'!! Well they are not the first team to do these positives, but others were not as bad with language!!!.....I'm posting another message with more details...so hang on Daniel...!!
