It was heartening to read Peter's article lauding the punishment handed out to Lehmann. It is also heartening to think that people finally want players to be remembered for their humanity as much as their feats of skill.
But Peter has completely skirted a basic issue: the racist tendencies of the bosses of the game. The Mike Denness controversy is an extremely good case in point. Mike acted like a vengeful schoolmaster keen to show his power, and the ICC supported him terming Indian protests as anarchy. Shaun Pollock got away with murder in the same game, with an appeal which was probably either the longest in Test history, or definitely a contender for the top spots. A day later Craig McMillan was not even warned for the same "offence".
And Sachin Tendulkar, with an impeccably clean record on and off the field, untouched by the rumours of match fixing in its heyday, will live forever under the shadow of cheating. Slater, the Waughs, Warne, Ponting, McGrath, Hayden and their ilk, whose job description includes arrant sledging, who hurl mouthfuls at umpires as a matter of routine and have replaced sportsmanship with gamesmanship under the garb of professionalism, continue to occupy high moral ground. In the subcontinent, no white teams will be appreciated unless their basic attitude ceases to reflect their colonial past.
Peter's article is amazingly balanced.Darren Lehmanna however nice a BLOKe he is cannot get away with such damnable behaviour.Just because he isa member of the best cricketing side doesn't get him any honors. It's high time he realised that it was these black guys that threw them out of the 1996 world cup..and i wish australia gets a beating at the hands of srilanka again.It is a shame to lehmann and to australian cricket.
Why Lehman has no right? Is that because everybody is human being and the cricket is played among human beings? If that is right, Lehman committed a crime and he deserves lifetime ban and he will be treated based on colour whenever he visits subcontinent
Before we go out and get someone's head, we need to look at ourselves. Question for an Indian is not whether he is a racist, but whether he has discriminated against any person because he looks different? I have personal experience of a chai-stall owner in Pune calling a Nigerian "black f****r". I personally couldn't have told which of the two had a lighter complexion, and yet! Haven't we discriminated against someone who belongs to a lower caste anytime in our lives? Not that it is not punishable under law or not that people who have grown up now as part of 80s and 90s generation have such discriminatory feelings, but before we start throwing stones... There's no place for discrimination against anyone or of any form these days in the global world order. It is good that Darren was punished and the punishment in future has to be more severe and especially on the australians because they grow up watching relatively few people of different color compared to the people in UK or USA. I find the excuse given by Yorkshire team skippered by Darren very disgusting. "What is said in dressing room has to stay in there"??? It only shows if not for these rules, these people are not human but belong to some uncivil era. There's no repentance, only an excuse and to say it is ok to say such things out of the cricket ground!, what example are they setting to Australian people?
Peter's comments about the Windies A team raises an interesting point. While Darren has been penalized (and rightly so) for the term 'black ****", never have the Asian/West Indian teams been fined for uttering slurs like 'white ****' Now is it that the adjective 'black' constitutes a slur but 'white ....' is unoffensive? If that's the case, it is the ICC that needs to be penalized!
Everyone in their heart of hearts is either a racist or a casteist or whatever. However it becomes a problem when you start expressing your views openly hurting others sentiments. Of course Lehmann will be punished with a slap on the wrist and let go. Indian cricketers will get punished for appealing loudly. It would be great if India,Pakistan and Sri Lanka can come together at least to fight against a governing body which tends to be a little racist.
A good article Peter! Over the years I have read Peter Roebuck's articles with interest. I have moved from India to Australia 4 years ago and have played cricket in Melbourne for 1 season before retiring. To date I have hardly come across a racist team mate.
I think Darren Lehmann's outburst was a spontaneous one. It may not be right to condemn all aussies as racists. However, the general attitude of the public and host team to the visiting teams from the subcontinent, West Indies are racially biased. If anyone watched TV carefully, behind an injured Murali, last week we can see the spectators are laughing their head off as if they have seen something funny. Neither did I see any one laughing when Simon Jones slid himself to injury at Gabba early in the season nor when Shane warne was carried away on a stretcher at MCG!! Darren Lehmann was stupid enough to let out his attitude to the world inadvertantly! Sadly the truth is even at the dawn of 21st century people are stupid enough to hang on to the racist mentality. I am of the opinion that anyone who crosses the line should be punished and Darren is no exception, even though he apologised. These are sports icons who sets example to the future generation of sportsmen from this country. Racism is not a thing of the white man alone. In countries like India, Sri Lanka the caste system is even worse than racism in Western world. One must not forget that!!
What we saw with Lehmann was nothing new. The same disgusting behaviour by South Africans (in the recent Sri Lanka's tour of SA) and numerous instances before by Aussie and SA cricketers repeatedly go unpunished by ICC or the authorities. This despite video evidence. Cricketers like Kallis, Pollock, Hall and till sometime back Mcgrath, Ponting were most disgusting on Television especially with visiting Sub-continent teams. It is thanks to cricketers like Ranatunga, Sanath, Dravid and few others that things go on. The Indians protested last year with the ball tampering and case of over appealing in South Africa which is just the way things will go on in the future.
Just couple of weeks ago Justin Langer had written about the Barmy Army's behaviour over calling Brett Lee a chucker, but doesnt the same thing hold good for the Aussie crowd over Murali.
Somethings like the BCCI administration, Indian Politicians and International Ethical standards on cricket will never change.
