But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny

[Mandrake]

Hats off to Sunny for raising this! ...But who will punish Barry Richards, asks Sunny Bobilli Vijay Kumar I TNN Mumbai: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar welcomed the swift punitive action against Herschelle Gibbs for his racist taunts against a group of Pakistani supporters on the fourth day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan. ?Such behaviour (Gibbs? comments) on the sports field is just not acceptable,? he told TOI, shortly after he learnt that Gibbs had been banned for two Test matches for calling some Pakistani supporters bloody animals and f*****n Pakistanis. ?Prompt and severe punishment by the authorities is the only way to ensure that such things don?t keep happening,?? he added. Gavaskar, who has always stood up for the dignity of his compatriots and openly warred against the supercilious attitude of some players from England and Australia, complimented Cricket South Africa for showing the way on how to deal with racism on the field. ?Cricket SA must be praised for being so pro-active,?? he said. The two-match ban was announced by match referee Chris Broad who cited Level 3.3 of ICC?s Code of Conduct. SA Cricket too has set up its own disciplinary committee which will declare its verdict on Tuesday. Gavaskar also commended Super Sport for not diluting the offensive remarks that were relayed to a live audience by the stump microphone. He, however, wanted to know if the channel had taken any action against commentator Barry Richards for similarly racist remarks during India?s recent tour to South Africa. During the course of the third and final Test earlier this month, it must be pointed out, Barry Richards had written a column in a South African newspaper which had enraged Gavaskar no end. He even wanted the entire media to confront him for writing that the South African team too was showing ?Indian fragilities?. ?In the South African context that is definitely a racist comment too. What does he mean by Indian fragilities,?? Gavaskar had thundered in Cape Town. ?Such stereotyping of people and communities is just not on,?? he told TOI on Monday evening. ?I have already spoken to one of the senior officials at Super Sport about that remark.?? Gavaskar wanted to know through TOI if Super Sport had initiated any action against Richards. ?I would like to know if they are planning to take any action against him. If Gibbs can be punished, why not him,?? he asked. It may be recalled Australia?s Dean Jones too had lost his job with a TV channel recently for stereotyping Hashim Amla for his flowing beard. ?Why should we give a platform to people who are dismissive about us,?? asked Gavaskar. ?Television channels and newspapers in India should not hire them if they can?t respect us. There are a number of former players who will do an equally good job and appreciate it too,?? he said.

[King]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny I'm glad someone can give it to the old senile Barry. I blame the Indian TV channels for hiring him to commentate on Indian games. Even the likes of Mandira Bedi gave him a thrashing when he questioned why she supports a cheat like Shoaib Akthar. She replied "For the very reason you support only Lee and Bond"

[yoda]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny I am glad too that Sunny has raised it. Barry Richards is an ahole of the highest order and needs to be put in place. It is only a matter of time before he digs his own grave.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny

I'm glad someone can give it to the old senile Barry. I blame the Indian TV channels for hiring him to commentate on Indian games. Even the likes of Mandira Bedi gave him a thrashing when he questioned why she supports a cheat like Shoaib Akthar. She replied "For the very reason you support only Lee and Bond"

She should have mentioned Gibbs the cheat Warne the dope-head..

[audioman]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny Barry Richards' remark is obviously cricket-centric. He means Indian cricket teams' fragilities over the years - their tendency to crumble in unfriendly conditions etc etc. Sunny's remark, as usual, is way over-the-top. When a commentator says "Aussie killer instinct", they obviously mean the Australian cricket team's ability to polish off the opposition when on top. You don't hear an aussie accuse them of generalizing all Aussies to be ruthless killers, do you?!?! Now, if Sunny wants to talk about how wrong Barry Richards is about the Indian cricket team and wants to argue on whether or not they are a frail line-up, we are all ears. But this is a petty and childish accusation from the big small man.

[Lurker]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny

Barry Richards' remark is obviously cricket-centric. He means Indian cricket teams' fragilities over the years - their tendency to crumble in unfriendly conditions etc etc. Sunny's remark' date= as usual, is way over-the-top. When a commentator says "Aussie killer instinct", they obviously mean the Australian cricket team's ability to polish off the opposition when on top. You don't hear an aussie accuse them of generalizing all Aussies to be ruthless killers, do you?!?!

The difference between the two is obvious. One is used to compliment while other to chastise. The day we would hear "Aussie killer instinct" as a rebuke then you might see Aussies go on rampage as well. A good example would be how Indians dont complain when commentators lavish praise over graceful batsmanship of the likes of VVS and Azhar as typical "Indian mastery". However in the context Richards made his statement - Indian fraigilities- surely that should, and did, raise eyebrows. xxx

[Guest BossBhai]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny -- Removed on request of the user --

[MundaPakistani]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny Where can i find Barry's article?

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny barry richards has responded to gavaskars criticism by saying he would like to sort this out with sunny over the phone

[dhruvdeepak]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny everything has a context. you cannot view a comment in isolation and attribute that to racism or a racist tendency. Throughout the ODI and Test series, i heard Richards' and the other SA guys' commentary and while it was not racist in the sense that they thought we were an inferior people and deserved to be their servants, or something like that, it was absolutely pathetic and quite appalling the manner in which they addressed any part of their commentary that had to do with India. So I dont think Barry Richards is a racist (on review), but I think I am right in saying the lot of them were utterly disdainful of the Indian team and biased/parochial. Their references to anything other than their "sporting and professional" team was unprofessional and painted our guys in a poor color. and that is the key. the picture they painted of us. With the cheap abuse uttered by Boucher, Nel and co, we heard praise of the levels of intensity this SA team could go to. When they got it back in kind, there was a disdainful "he he he" chuckle by Richards with others chiming in on how unsporting and rude and lucky the Indians were. And I have never heard a more bitter group of people following the first Test. Of course their 3-0 predictions were shattered, but what followed was lousy. Pitch and conditions were blamed. When Prince went off for bad light on the first day of the 2nd Test, there was nodding in approval. When the Indians did the same the next day, there were "pshts" and "come on and play". Since the Indians were anyway a bunch of flukers, when Dada hit a lovely pull shot for 6 that signalled his intent for the day it was shot down as a premeditated shot - as if he closed his eyes and swung. When VRV Singh beat their guys to pulp (with the bat) there was not a word to be heard but when Ntini and whatsisname hung around for 20 mins woah the words of praise flowed like a particularly fluid bout of diarrhoea. I have never seen any one player singled out for as much negative attention as Sreesanth had. Cullinan in fact called him "Andre Nel in drag" live on air. Barry Richards chimed in with the patented weasel laugh. Whenever he had a word with the batsman as he tends to do, there was a call for "Dravid to control his men". The double standards applied there wrt to Nel was a joke. anyways it makes me happy that we can cause reactions such as that. It may have been uncalled for and mean from their side, but in a funny sort of way i think i enjoyed seeing those bumbling fools whine and make excuses while they lost the first Test. And Gavaskar may be slightly over the top with respect to 'Indian fragilities' but the point remains that it is difficult to change a senile old man's views on a team that he considers so below his own standards that the best he can offer the millions tuning for his expert commentary is a snicker and an attitude that won him no friends.

[audioman]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny ^ Good post that. Maybe he WAS biased, in which case Sunny himself has no right to talk about it, but this was NOT racist. It is a ridiculous accusation that is just downright childish.

The difference between the two is obvious. One is used to compliment while other to chastise. The day we would hear "Aussie killer instinct" as a rebuke then you might see Aussies go on rampage as well.

So you are allowed to make "allegedly" racist remarks as long as it is nice? "It is a very wristy, subcontinental stroke" is the same kinda, lemme use Sunny's words, generalization as "Indian fragilities" is.

[Bumper]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny Excellent points DhruvDeepak. Meticulous portrayal of facts and very balanced povs. Hope to read more of u on the board.

[dhruvdeepak]

Re: But who will punish Barry Richards? asks Sunny thanks bumper