Australian team cheats its fans.............. by winning!!!!

[suraj]

At least India gives a full match even though we lose SOME Australian fans who paid $10,000 and travelled two days to watch the World Cup angrily stormed out after yesterday's 3-hour Super Eight mismatch against Ireland. Australia wrapped up their nine-wicket win at Kensington Oval by 1pm - when the second innings should have begun - and fans felt short-changed. One fan, Thomas McMahon from Melbourne, said: "There was no doubt it was second-rate fare. I would not have got out of bed in Melbourne to watch that.'' Sent into bat with Australia keen to boost their run rate, the Irish amateurs were blasted out for just 91 in 30 overs, with Glenn McGrath and Shaun Tait each taking three wickets. In reply, the world champions streaked to victory in 12.2 overs and secured their semi-final place with two preliminary matches to go. And while captain Ricky Ponting said afterwards that the Australians had got everything they wanted from the match, fans were left feeling cheated. Most have paid thousands of dollars to simply be in the crowd, but some supporter tour packages are well over $10,000 - and that's just for the final stages of the tournament. Ireland's participation in the Super Eight phase highlights a flawed system, under which they advanced because of one upset win - over Pakistan during the initial pool matches. The Irish also beat fellow minnows Canada and had a tie with Zimbabwe, but it was the three-wicket win over Pakistan that guaranteed them passage to the Super Eight stage. This has been a disaster as they have become cannon fodder against the better teams. Ponting yesterday defended the system, but he had been told to soften his stance after coming under heavy fire at the start of the tournament for claiming there were too many minnow nations in a tournament that has been roundly criticised. "They have won their way there, that's the thing. They obviously won more games than India and Pakistan did,'' Ponting said. "That's what the qualifying part of the tournament is all about. You can't take anything away from Ireland being here at the moment. They did what they had to do at the start to get to this stage and other teams didn't do it. "Sure, India and Pakistan might have put up more of a fight and more of a game today, but they had their chance to be here and weren't good enough.'' McGrath, who has 18 wickets and is closing in on Chaminda Vaas' record of 23 in one World Cup, expressed some sympathy for the thousands of fans who had made their way to Barbados for a match many thought would be against Pakistan. "When we play well, there are not too many teams that can beat us,'' he said. "Ireland probably aren't up to the standard of other teams, so it was always going to be a tough day for them. Unfortunately for the spectators and viewers, it was cut short by half.'' The victory extended Australia's unbeaten streak in this tournament to seven, but whether it provided adequate preparation for matches against Sri Lanka tomorrow night and New Zealand on Friday remains to be seen

[dhruvdeepak]

Re: Australian team cheats its fans.............. by winning!!!! those rat ba**ards. short changing their fans by winning :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: