Sridharan's article is a sarcastic look at the behavior of a set of people that are prone to panic. You should have seen the Aussies go up for Maninder's wicket in the 1986 tied game. That was actually not out but the over zealous Indian Umpire raised his finger. No one compliments him for that! Australia could have lost that game if the same Umpire had not upheld another LBW shout.
But, they are were all critical about everything in India. Richard Hadlee refused to tour India till the 1987 series saying it was the worst place on earth. Botham talked crap India saying things like "it is a place for my mother-in-law".
This is a continuation of stupidity.
One thing to be explored further is if the American type of fairness can be extended to cricket.
People here are not completely satisfied if they win but under bad circumstances. This is the current trend. The win has to be absolute for any champion team to rejoice and the opposition can have excuses but should be in a position where they can say "we were beaten by a better team". Americans go to great lengths to ensure this. I hope somehow people can see how this can be incorporated into Cricket.
Australians in reality should not be celebrating a victory that came to them solely because of Umpiring and some attrocious appealing. The whole thing has no sportsmanship left. It is a HUGE scar on their face. If they are OK with this scar, well so be it.
RE:Ishant Patnam is drinking too much of the Kool Aid!!!
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 06:03 AM
How on earth can you compare the actions of 11 cricketers with the mindset of 20 million Australians. I don't follow your arguments as you have wandered like the Ganges. What is it that you were trying to say?
RE:Ishant Patnam is drinking too much of the Kool Aid!!!
by Samosachat on Jan 15, 2008 08:24 PM
You have a point there Ishant. It is the action of not even 11 but 4 cricketers the main one being the skipper Ponting. ICC is ill equipped to handle the modern day challenges the game poses. Unfortunately India was at the receiving end of most of the umpiring follies.
RE:Ishant Patnam is drinking too much of the Kool Aid!!!
by Sam on Jan 16, 2008 08:54 AM
We are trying to say why are you using more than one ID you Chris, ishant, etc. We all now know that what kind of people lived in Australia. You are representative of them.
I think that you are making a mistake in generalizing Aussies. In fact a majority of Australian cricket fans were outraged at their own team's behaviour and almost of all them agreed that the Indians got a raw deal from the umpires. Compare this to the Indian crowd which is way more partisan. If India had won the match with the help of umpires, our fans would be all over the place celebrating like crazy.
We as Indians don't appreciate sports as much. The stadiums in India are almost empty on weekdays when a Test match is going on. Nobody here supports or watches Ranji match or a division level match. For sports other than cricket, forget about any viewership. Overall the Indian public is far less knowledgeable or passionate about sport compared to Australians, Europeans or Americans.
RE:unduly provocative
by Jim on Jan 15, 2008 01:58 AM
It is not the knowledge of sport you moron. It is the disposable income. Sport is a direct outcome of having time on hand. People in India have been busy reproducing so much that they dont have anything else but survival on their minds.
If you had 20 acres of land that you just occupied and then started a farm on it and were happily working in it, you would have free time up the wazu. Economies in these countries are built on that.
Americans started with occupying the land in the states. US population in 1900 was 78 million. In 1865 the population was an estimated 31 million for a country 3 times the size of India. Australia has a population of 20 million for a country that occupies 5% of all land mass in of Earth. Global population today is 7 billion. Do the math. Sridharan is pointing out that in his article.
Love of anything comes from having free time and access to space. I remember growing up in India, there was really no open space with grass of any kind or water to go play. We played on roads with traffic. No real physical work at all.
That is the difference between our atheletes and theirs. Working in farms, mills, anything physical engages more muscle and makes a person fitter.
Get this, a 190 pound gorilla was pitted against a 410 pound wwf wrestler. The competition was to throw down the other. The Gorilla won hands down. Why? the Gorilla uses a lot more muscle and is a better athelete.
That is what we see in Atheletes in US farm Power.
RE:unduly provocative
by Bihar Badshah on Jan 15, 2008 04:01 AM
Jim, India or China will soon send their strong and large army to invade australia.... because our population is growing and we would need more land and what best place then australia..so near and huge landmass... On moral ground it shame for humanity that few millions have occupied huge chucnk of earth landmass (5%) and the nature has to do justice and balancing act ..so soon you will be invaded..till then see ya..mate
RE:RE:unduly provocative
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 11:24 AM
Bihar, we will give you the area between Uluru and Broome...very green and fertile, plenty of waters, no crocs. that's the least we can do for you. If you have an atlas, do some homework and actually find out about the 'arid heart'. nearly all aussies live along the coastel fringe, the rest is desert.
RE:RE:RE:unduly provocative
by Bihar Badshah on Jan 15, 2008 07:54 PM
Teaching me geography..ha ha ha..poor people..Grow up..I have seen more world then ur entire clan..HA ha ha..
RE:unduly provocative
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 11:21 AM
Bihar must be Hindu for Ignorant. The U.S alliance is very strong. We are virtually their 51st State anyway. Thank God that extremists like you are in the minority.
RE:unduly provocative
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 12:00 PM
I think that is exactly the problem. Instead of being a sovereign country and act like one, Aus thinks and begs to be the 51st state! Thats the point Sridharan is trying to make.
You just hit the nail on the head Ishanth, thanks!
RE:RE:unduly provocative
by Bihar Badshah on Jan 15, 2008 08:16 PM
Ishant i live in US and know little more then what you have written on US..and its thought process...In all its TV news they daily keep rattling two growing economic power's India and China, have rarely heard aussies, only when they have to mock english accent they will use aussies reference...so you know where each country is placed in US peoples mindset..
RE:RE:unduly provocative
by Stupid BC on Jan 15, 2008 09:57 AM
Bring it on Bihar. Your lot can't subdue Pakistan despite massive numerical advantage. You have nil chance against our lot especially considering that the US would be there in flash (there are numerous US military installations in Australia). The smallest book in the world is the book of Indian war heroes. The English occupied your land for years with little or no resistance and with limited military resources. By the way most of the Australian land mass is arid and uninhabitable.
RE:unduly provocative
by Stupid BC on Jan 15, 2008 10:10 AM
The second smallest book in the world is succesful touring Indian cricket teams. Now that is funny.
RE:unduly provocative
by Bihar Badshah on Jan 15, 2008 09:17 PM
Yesterday I was reading an article how Symonds sorted his batting woos while trying to get into aussie eleven by talking with Sachin, his county coach wrote that article, Cheater Pointing learned his entire batting wacthing Sachin videos..the little book you mentioned is correct but man as I had said IT is not your cup of tea..that small book is micro chip having giga bytes of memory space..In lay mans wotld that small chip can have ur entire library..ha ha ha...
RE:unduly provocative
by Bihar Badshah on Jan 15, 2008 07:51 PM
Wow, good response I love it..sorry I just logged in and am ready with my bouncers..You have no knowledge of history..Indian army had captured 90k pakistani army during 1971 war biggest in world history, no country has matched that ever..English occuied entire universe so it applies to all even you...India does not need US, but its otherway round and any way we are equal partners in military startegy in our part of the world unlike aussies who are like kept..US is a great country like India and we have natural and mutual bond..India has the world 4th largest army and 3rd best air power..and also 150 Nukes, supported by $1 trillion US dollar ECONOMY..SOON U WILL BE OUR BUNNY MATE! HA HA HA! WOULD LOVE THAT..
RE:unduly provocative
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 01:52 AM
Pradeep, read the article and try to understand what Sridharan is saying.
He is infact agreeing with you that "Overall the Indian public is far less knowledgeable or passionate about sport compared to Australians, Europeans or Americans"
And he is saying this is because Aussies have 1.Uranium and 2.Sports. Thats their only true national identity, thats why they have to win!
He is NOT saying Indian cricket fans are great! Why are you assuming these things?
He is saying other things such as Aussies tend to take moral higher ground while being crap themselves-- wrt foreign policy, cricket etc.
Your article is a bit biased and a bit extreme, but well written I should say. The touch of humour is not lost on us.
To generalise the average Aussie by what the Aussie government does is a bit narrow minded. I was quite surprised by the prompt disapproval of the actions of Ponting and Co. after the Sydney test by the Aussie journalists and Aussie public.
John Howard may be a lunatic policy maker and an underachiever, but he is not representative of a nation which appreciates the beauty of sports and whose national sport is Cricket.
RE:WRONG DV, WRONG!
by Kerry Hadley on Jan 26, 2008 11:12 AM
sathish go and check the ICC website for the list of most reported and misbehaved side you might get a shock seeing how india has been reported 43 times and sit on top of the list for the most misbehave team, followed by pakistan. you can ask any team in the world they will agree with the report. teams don' have the problems with the australians its people like you that do.
Great article Mr.Sridharan! Im not sure why those Aussies and some Indian fools who were chatting away on Aus team is right are not posting their comments here.
Aus is a known useless country and most people of India have known this since Pokhran (for those who can remember this and the events that happend during Pokhran). (NZ also acted in a way at the time that carried no merit other than to remind the west of their existence)
Thanks for putting things in proper perspective. India should bring the Aussie cricketing mites (and ticks) to their knees in IPL as well as in October when they tour India.
Indians should boycott all the products endorsed by Ponting and co.
RE:Yoo hooo! 3 cheers!!!!
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 05:59 AM
These 20 million people you call useless have achieved more per capita than most other nations on the planet. It always amazes me the total ignorance of some Indians. There seems to be a great dichotomy amongst indians..the very intelligent and well informed and the totally ignorant who are apt to shoot first, think later. JM, you have denigrated what was a terrific discussion amongst passionate cricket fans.
RE:Yoo hooo! 3 cheers!!!!
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 06:44 AM
1. Read the article clearly- Sridharan has tried to analyze why the 11 players act like that and has followed it up to how 20 million people act/have acted in the past. Not the other way around.
2. percapita income of Aus is pretty high but quite less for the resources it has. Gulf countries have higher percapita income, does that mean no Indian can criticize them on anything?
3. Aussies are trying to please the west, always, by following the west and repeating whatever is said by the west verbatim. No independent thinking whatsoever! I have been following Aus foreign policy since Pokhran. Foreign policy- "will do what the west does, especially US, UK". So that way, I maintain that Aussies are "useless"!
4. Agreed, I shot first, thought later and even after thinking my conclusion is not very far from what I thought before. Are you kissing first and thinking later?
5. I have not denigrated anything; I am only vehemently agreeing with Sridharan's article that the 11 players having been grown up in Aus ccouldnt help but act in a way they did and that the Aussies have no right for moral high ground in most issues, nationally and internationally and certainly not in cricket.
RE:Yoo hooo! 3 cheers!!!!
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 10:45 AM
JM, I must congratulate you because this is the first time in over a week that I have had a discussion with an Indian and not been called every name under the sun. I respect you for that. Australian foreign policy has reflected the government in power. The new Rudd Labor govt is intent on bringing our troops home from Iraq. Australia has embraced 'internationalism' and has been riding the wave of global trade. We depend very heavily upon India and China to drive our resources boom so it is vital that we maintain good relationships with India. Aussies have never taken a step back when it comes to defending our counrty. I simply find Sridharan's article to contain historical errors and to be a a very over simplified analysis of the Australian ethos. Two great books to read on the growth of Australia's national identity are The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes and The Tyranny of Distance by prof Geoofrey Blainey. Cheers JM, I wish I could have a beer with you :)
RE:Yoo hooo! 3 cheers!!!!
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 12:19 PM
It is not about Iraq or one such thing. What I fail to understand is what is Aus agenda. Sanctions by the west is sanctions by Aus. Agreement with the US and Aus is begging India to buy its uranium and not Russia's and other suppliers'.
Does Aus stand anywhere for anything? Where does Aus stand internationally?
US does not support India for UNSC, Aus does not; Condi made a brief statement during her visit that they are looking into supporting India for UNSC, Aus jumped in; US went back to the original stand, Aus went back...I can give a hundred examples why Aus (Aus govt atleast) is not respected by Indian govt.
I do have to wonder if the identity of Aus internationally is to be US/UK's follower trying hard to be a 'cheerleader for the coolest kid in school hoping to be like him/her one day' or does it stand for something?
I will make a sincere attempt to read those books. I want to recommend some books to your friend (or maite) 'Mr.Stupid BC' on India and Indian wars and heroes, but your maite does not look like much of a reader.
I must say that your article has made complete sense. It is nothing short of brilliant & I do hope that you send this editorail to the Sydney Morning Herald as well. It will be our victory if they decline to publish it.
RE:Well said
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 12:32 AM
Main papers in Aust are the AGE and HERALD SUN in Melbourne, The SMH and the TELEGRAPH in Sydney, the COURIER MAIL in Brisbane. The only truly national paper is the AUSTRALIAN. The Melb H.S and Syd M.H are sister papers with the same national content :)
RE:brilliant
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 14, 2008 07:50 PM
"only identity' in sport? Australia is culturally diverse and it's inhabitants have diversified over the last 100 years. Sport has a prime position but to infer that australia is a cultural wasteland seems absurd, anyway, Australians are quite tolerant to alternate opinions so i congratulate you on your article: Ishant/Indian born Australian.
RE:brilliant
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 12:22 AM
Aus have only 2 attributes with which they can identify in the world--
1. Uranium 2. Sports (3. you could add beer, wool, milk, tourism etc but they are not their main identities)
Aussies have nothing to offer to the world other than sports and Uranium. So they need to win!
Their best universities, technology and everything else is 2nd or even 3rd rated to whats in other parts of the world. Thats why they welcome peopls from other places who have been rejected by USA and Europe. A doctor who has scored a 3rd class in Bombay university is welcome in the Aus! An engineer who has barely passed from Delhi university will be gladly accepted for 'higher studies' in Aus.
RE:brilliant
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 10:59 AM
IVF technology-Australia Black Box Flight recorder-Australian Relenza-Anti flu drug-Australian Bee gees/ACDC etc Australian Mel Gibson, Russel crowe, kate Blanchett-Australian Germaine Greer, david Helfgott, Rupert Murchdoch, BHP, Fosters, PBL,Kingsford Smith,Mawson, packer, boyd, nolan, streeton,geoofrey Rush etc etc etc The list stretches a mile.
Many Indian dr work on the buses here beacause their Indian qualifications are not recognised here. Melbourne has been voted the worlds most liveable city for many years. Nearly all multi factor standar of living indicators record Australia in the top 5. As an economist, I have to laugh because one of Australia's main exports as shown on our Balance of Payments is 'educational services to the sub-continent'. So many of your top graduates seek a university degree in our universities. Both Uni of Melb and Uni of Sydney have been rated in the 10 ten world uni's. Really JM, you need to do your homework and get your facts right. I thought that you had a little more going for you than to right all that. Just ask any American, they will tell you that the country most similar to them and with the closest eco, political and social ties is Australia. A top grade western society.
RE:brilliant
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 11:07 AM
The Box Kite (or cellular kite) invented by William Hargrave in the early 1890s during his investigation into the lifting properties of curved surfaces. Hargrave's work was to form the basis of much manned flight that followed. Hargraves himself flew 16 feet on 12 November 1894 by linking a group of such kites together and adding a seat.
The Sarich Engine - an orbital combustion engine invented by Perth engineer Ralph Sarich in 1972. (For more information see orbital engine.)
Wave Piercing Catamaran - designed by Sydney naval architect Phillip Hercus. His design went on to form the basis for the ocean going catamarans produced by Incat in Tasmania. Australia's leadership in the design of multi-hulled vessels continued with the launch in 2005 of first commercial aluminium trimaran, the Benchijigua Express, designed by a team of engineers in Perth led by Dr Tony Armstrong. The 'Diff' (differential gears) - David Shearer designed a differential gear which he incorporated into the steam car he built in South Australia in 1897. The 'Ute' - A vehicle with the cabin of a car and the rear of a small truck was designed by Lewis Brandt at the Ford Motor Company in Geelong, Victoria.1934 and called a 'Utility Vehicle'. The 'ute' has long been a favourite vehicle for farmers and tradesmen and is part of the Australian landscape. Black Box Flight Recorder - this famous device was invented in 1958 by Dr David Warren at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne. The Inf
RE:brilliant
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 12:07 PM
Thanks JM ..point taken...and we didn't come to blows once ( ha) Even though you're not here now, I'll still have a beer for you.
Ishant, thanks for giving me a summary of achievement of Aussies. The way you have defended Aus, it seems you mistook me to imply that Aus was like some god-forbidden impoverished nation. Obviously Aus is not as bad and has quite a few achievements to its credit, so do countries like Chile, Bolivia, even Pakistan.
France was a great country giving so much to the world and it still does especially Telecom and Defence technology. But anyone will agree, even French, that the France of today does not know where it stands or has any bearing on where it is going, internally and internationally. Therefore it is a "useless" country in many regards.
Aus is a country that also does not have a proper political stand or bearing on international matters and follows the real west to be one of them. For gods sake I would appreciate Aus much more if they showed they are a sovereign country and not a colony of the west!
But anyway, Americans love space, so obviously average Americans will say Aus is the country nearest to them, not considering political, financial, influential, economic and other matters.
Two interesting words used by Mr Sridharan: Throve and Thwacking. I can find no reference to either however i feel that THROVE may in fact be 'old english' in its derivation. Thwacking appears to be an invention of Mr Sridharan however I actually like the word-sounds like a cover drive that has come off both the bat and the pad at the same time.
RE:Very interesting use of English
by Rajkumar Alagesan on Jan 14, 2008 11:55 PM
1.) thwack - v.To strike or hit with a flat object; whack. n. A hard blow with a flat object; a whack. 2.) throve (past tense of thrive) Grow stronger
"And so it came to pass, that after close to 150 years of playing cricket, and having acquired its first non-white cricketer it has become the Australian's burden to 'protect' Symonds from racist slur" What a shame that Mr G has got it so very wrong. The first team to ever represent Australia in a test series was made up entirely of Aboriginals. This team toured England in the late 1800's. Many Aboriginals have played Test and State cricket, in fact, Indigenous Australians have excelled in Australian Rules Football, Athletics and Boxing. I feel that mr G is way off the beam in terms of capturing the intrinsic spirit of Australia and her inhabitants.
RE:RE:Historically Inaccurate
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 14, 2008 07:43 PM
details on the first tour of england by aboriginals can be found on wikipedia-under aboriginal cricket team 1868.
RE:Historically Inaccurate
by Sridharan DV on Jan 15, 2008 11:50 PM
from the wikipedia article on the aboriginals' tour of england, a cited quote from the daily telegraph: "Although several of them are native bushmen, and all are as black as night, these Indian fellows are to all intents and purposes, clothed and in their right minds." there, a double whammy! they were taken as exhibits by a white man. no aborigene appears to have represented australia. i could be wrong. has anyone played in ashes match- ever? also, is there a programme to develop aboriginal cricketers now? the much maligned south africans are doing a lot to induct blacks
RE:Historically Inaccurate
by Kerry Hadley on Jan 27, 2008 02:57 PM
Jason Gillespie ia of aboriginal descent by his grandfather. he played in the ashes, there where others that have admitted to such.
shouldn't take a lot of stock into wikipedia as it can be altered to suit views and has been proven by governments staffers alterations of factual occurrances.
RE:Historically Inaccurate
by Ishant Patnan on Jan 15, 2008 06:07 AM
wrong again JM. Sir Doug Nicholls was aboriginal. Mr S hasn't done his homework. This reduces the effectiveness of his article.
RE:RE:Historically Inaccurate
by JM on Jan 15, 2008 06:54 AM
You are anal about one generalization that 1 (or even 10) aboriginal cricketer does not count in the last 100 years.
Anyway, the point that Sridharan is trying to make that 'Aus have no moral standing to officially criticize Indians reg people from certain castes/religions/regions not being adequately represented in the Indian cricket team' is completely valid.
Sridharan puts this well in the context of how the Aussies always try to preach while not practicing by other examples.
