Sporting greats upset by Australia's behaviour

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Andrew]

Finally... A catalyst for change. These men are sporting legends in Australia. They are ambassadors of the sporting tradition that was displayed by Benaud or Bradman: Hard, humble, honest. In the last few years Australian sporting teams became: Hubris, hypocrites, hated. Australia is a sporting nation. These men are sporting greats. This is really, really big news. The Australian public has essentially turned their back on this team. And a win on the pitch will not restore their respect.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Andrew]

Thank you India.

But what amazes me is CA doggedly sticking to their line of "We did no wrong" .. given how hard it is to miss the public outcry. Methinks there is more to come in this episode and its not going to go away in a hurry. But I just hope and pray that it ends with ICC cracking down hard on Sledging . If Harbi has to be the first in line so be it. Small price if you look at the bigger picture I feel.

You are spot on. It is amazing. It is an absolutely shocking case of 'brand management'. And all the sporting greats who have helped built the reputation/brand of the baggy green and Australian sport and going to start telling the ACB and this idiot Geoff Sutherland to pull their heads in. That is why groups like these are starting to say to the ACB "hey, this isn't just about cricket, this is about the baggy green, this is about the Australian sporting tradition and you are tramping all over it. THANK YOU INDIA!!! We needed this because we were becoming a very big bunch of w*a*n*k*e*r*s (excuse the french).

[Dinx - the Jinx]

These men are sporting legends in Australia. They are ambassadors of the sporting tradition that was displayed by Benaud or Bradman: Hard, humble, honest. In the last few years Australian sporting teams became: Hubris, hypocrites, hated. Australia is a sporting nation. These men are sporting greats. This is really, really big news. The Australian public has essentially turned their back on this team. And a win on the pitch will not restore their respect.

Andrew - are you really serious?

[Andrew]

Sure am.

Andrew - are you really serious?

Rob De Castella was the captain of our entire olympic team in... Atlanta? I HOPE this has a lot further to go. When I read that people like these are speaking out I am happy because I do think there are a lot of people who are disillusioned at the antics which essentially you guys are writing about.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Wish Bradman was alive today, he wud havefurther added value to this censure from yester-year greats

[Guest BossBhai]

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[DesiChap]

Aussies arrogant, need counselling: Geoff Lawson Aussies arrogant, need counselling: Geoff Lawson PTI MELBOURNE, January 9: It's not only the Indians who feel that the current Australian cricket team is arrogant. Even a former Aussie Test cricketer believes that the players don't play in the spirit of the game and they need "counselling". According to Geoff Lawson, the Australians are considered to be "arrogant" by the rest of the cricket world and it's time that the players behave properly on and off the cricket pitch. Lawson, currently coaching the Pakistan team, has also claimed that the Australians did not play within the spirit of the game in their 122-run second Test win over India at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week. "There's certainly been a lot of feeling from ex-players who think the baggy green has been disrespected. Some of these (current) players need to be spoken to. I certainly don't agree with dragging (Ricky) Ponting's captaincy, I just think a bit of counselling needs to be done with how these players perceive themselves. "As an ex-Australian player I was pretty disappointed. Perception is everything and the outside world thinks that this Australian team is arrogant and not well behaved. "Whether the team themselves think that is another issue, but I can guarantee you the rest of the cricket world certainly feel that about this cricket team," 'The Daily Telegraph' in Sydney quoted Lawson as saying. http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Aussies_need_counselling_Lawson/articleshow/2685687.cms

[Mr. Wicket]

The Australian public has essentially turned their back on this team. And a win on the pitch will not restore their respect.

Yup. Was talking to a couple of relatives of mine yesterday in Melbourne - Aussie locals - and they're quite sick and tired of the Aussie behaviour and really hope India end this streak soon. One point made was 'What's the point of dominating the game like this if you still can't be a team that the country can be proud of?"

[DesiChap]

Scant support for under-fire Ponting Sydney: Some of Australia's greatest sportsmen on Wednesday came out against the "win at all costs" attitude of captain Ricky Ponting and his team which was damaging the country's reputation. Batting legend Neil Harvey and fast bowling great Jeff Thomson were joined by the members of the elite "Sports Australia Hall of Fame", which includes Australia's sporting icons, in attacking the cricket team for their conduct during the second Test against India at Sydney. Harvey, a 1948 'Invincibles' team member, blamed the Australian captain for the fiasco and said, "Ponting should have kept his mouth shut and nothing would have happened." "It is quite unheard of for a captain to dob on someone like this and it is quite an unsportsmanlike act. I think Ponting should be chastised by Australian cricket officials for his actions," he said. "I hope Harbhajan gets off on appeal and let's get the game back to normal. That would be the most simple and best way out," Harvey said. He said to him 'monkey' was not a racially offensive term and "it's a bit rich for the Australians to get on their high horse considering how they act." Ponting, however, found support from Glenn McGrath, who himself had earned a reputation for sledging during his distinguished career and gentleman cricketer Richie Benaud who counter-attacked the likes of Peter Roebuck who had demanded the sacking of "arrogant" Ponting. Benaud described Ponting as an "outstanding" leader and said, "The thought of Ponting being sacked, I think that's absolute nonsense." Former pace great Jeff Thomson, however, was harsh in his criticism of the team and said Ponting had no business reporting Harbhajan Singh. "The Aussies act like morons and bullies and they can't cop criticism from someone like myself. I think it was appalling that none of the Australians went over and shook Anil Kumble's hand at the end of the SCG Test. They just played up and carried on like idiots like they normally do." Equally miffed were the Hall of Famers, who believe Ponting and his teammates were doing enough damage to the country's reputation. John Bertrand, who led an Australian yatch team to America Cup win 25 years ago, said, "It's not war. Their desire to win at all costs is beginning to blur their moral compass. "We will be seeking a meeting with Cricket Australia to seek to get the Australian team to readjust their behaviour so that they do show respect for their opponents," he said. World champion marathon runner Rob de Castella and Olympic gold medallist Herb Elliott, echoed the same view. "We don't like what we are seeing and hearing at the moment," Elliot said. Australian Football League hero Ron Barassi said, "It concerns me that the Australians are regularly being referred to as being arrogant and because it is mentioned so often, you begin to wonder." Australian media, meanwhile, looked more pre-occupied with umpire Steve Bucknor's removal from the Perth Test, a move that was perceived as ICC's capitulation before BCCI's financial might. "A major concern for cricket's leaders is that the decision to oust Bucknor lets a genie out of the bottle. Which country will follow next with a refusal to play under a particular umpire?" asked the Sydney Morning Herald. "Yesterday's action is both a buckling to power and a pragmatic decision to try to allow the tour to proceed," their columnist Tony Stephens wrote. The Daily Telegraph, however, felt otherwise. "The International Cricket Council, so often criticised for its handling of major crises, did well to draw a deep breath and make a tough call," wrote Robert Craddock in the daily. "Making the call to drop Bucknor in the middle of a series may seem cringingly bad timing but sometimes desperate situations call for unconventional methods," he added. The Australian, however, continued to spit venom over India's "pressure tactics" in getting Bucknor removed for the Test series. The paper also incorporated a video section to show that "the Indian Test side in general are not saints on the field when it comes to controversial decisions". http://www.cricketnext.com/news/scant-support-for-underfire-ponting/28811-13-single.html

[Sachinism]

watch how the aussies will now put lawson down and find as many faults as possible in him

[Guest BossBhai]

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[coffee_rules]

Ponting... the victim Even my parents were threathened! What a load of BS!!!! [h1]Ricky Ponting's parents threatened[/h1] Article from:

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By Garry Linnell January 10, 2008 12:00am IT seemed the perfect Tuesday morning for Ricky Ponting - until the call came to tell him the cricket world was burning and a growing mob was baying for him to be sacked as Australian Test captain. Ponting was on the golf course for a charity game. The weather was sparkling, as was his form. Then his wife Rianna rang to tell him that chaos reigned. "Have you seen the papers?" she asked. Ponting hadn't. "Is everything OK with your job?" There were calls for Ponting to be dismissed along with several other leading members of the team. India's cricket tour of Australia was in jeopardy. Effigies of Ponting had been burned in the streets of the sub-continent. "She was a bit worried and a bit shaken," Ponting said yesterday. "I said 'Everything will be OK'." Gallery special: Punter through on-field triumph and off-field drama. Ponting spoke soon after with Cricket Australia chief executive Sutherland and was told he had the full support of the Australian governing body. However, as the fallout from one of the biggest crises in international cricket continued yesterday - even Ponting's parents have been forced to change their home telephone number after receiving abusive and threatening calls - the Australian skipper conceded there were elements of his side's performance in the second Test "that in hindsight you might do a little differently". Has Ricky Ponting been unfairly criticised throughout the India row? Vote in our poll and join the hottest debate online using the Your Say box below. He pointed to his own actions, saying he had stood too long at the crease after being given out LBW in the first innings. "There's no doubt I stood there for a second or two too long and I shouldn't have done that," he said. "It probably didn't help that I was shown throwing my bat when I got back to the rooms. "Some of the guys mightn't have shaken (Indian skipper Anil) Kumble's hand after the game but we were so wrapped up with the end of the game that they were already off the field. "We all walked along when it was over and shook their hands." Umpire Steve Bucknor has also been treated roughly since the Test. Recent reports say he is holed up in a luxury Sydney hotel, while you can see pics of Indians burning Bucknor effigies here. Ponting said that when the side meets in Perth on Sunday morning for its first briefing in the lead up to the Third Test, he would raise the Spirit of Cricket agreement that all Australian players have agreed to abide by and remind the team of its obligations as professionals on and off the field. But he has denied accusations from leading former cricketers and sporting figures that the current Test team is arrogant and needs to soften its win-at-all-costs attitude. "I don't think anyone wants the way Australia plays cricket to change. Everyone likes to see a tough, uncompromising brand of cricket," he said. "But if there are areas in our game to improve then obviously we need to address that." One of the criticisms levelled at the Australians was that their on-field celebration at the end of the game was excessive and arrogant. "I've thought about this. If we were big headed and arrogant we wouldn't have been celebrating like that," he said. "Big headedness doesn't go hand in hand with the sort of euphoria we showed at the end of the game. "I think we can all look back at that last Test and realise there were some little areas in that game that, if we had our time over, we might have done slightly differently." Ponting will replay to his team television highlights of several key scenes from the Second Test. "We'll look at some of the footage. Its perception and the way people see things when they're off the field. I might be talking to opposition players on the field but it might be construed by people watching on television that you're in a slanging or sledging match when that's not the case. "I think its important that we sit back and look at that footage. Look at our body language. See if there are areas we can improve on." Ponting was dumbfounded at some of the reaction since the finish to the second Test, which Australia won by capturing three late wickets with minutes to spare to seize their 16th consecutive Test victory. "What I want is for the Australian cricket team to be the most loved and the most respected sporting side in this country. That's always been one of my aims and it will continue to be," he said. "One thing I've been conscious of over the last five years I've been captain is that this team is going to be recognised as one of the all-time great Australian cricket teams. "But what I've also been conscious of is making sure the guys are remembered as being good people as well as great cricketers. "In the last two or three seasons especially we've actually started to change the perception, the way in which the public see us. There have been less (players reported). We're ultra conscious of how we play the game and the spirit of cricket which we all signed on to." West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor was replaced on Tuesday after pressure from India's governing cricketing body, while an appeal over the three-match suspension given to spinner Harbhajan Singh for calling Andrew Symonds a "monkey" has been deferred until after the Perth Test.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[yoda]

"What I want is for the Australian cricket team to be the most loved and the most respected sporting side in this country. That's always been one of my aims and it will continue to be," he said.

:giggle:

[DravidDaBest]

Based on the above, I feel Ponting is worried about how they're being perceived rather than where they stand

[Grim Reaper]

Sack and ban him, he is of no worth to the cricketing world if he must resort to cheating.

[sm332]

India has no control over his sacking ... what it does have control over is his advertising contracts with Indian firms, make sure he pays on that front ... aside from that if we find that he was genuinely cheating that we should follow the appropriate channels to follow through on that