Side with no heart can't win a civil war -CRAP

[arun81]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23076777-10389,00.html?from=mostpop WE wuz had. India's stunning performance in the third Test at the WACA should be dedicated to a lot more than the 11 players out on the field. They should share their pay cheques with their bullying officials back home, the weak-kneed administrators at the International Cricket Council and certain members of the media who have taken every opportunity to put the knife into the Aussies since this series began. The Australian side which took the field for this Test was weakened by retirements and injury but, more than that, it was a side with its heart ripped out. Remember that scene in one of the Rocky movies where Rocky's trainer tells him he's no longer feared by his opponents? "Kid," he says, "the worst thing that could happen to a fighter happened to you. You got civilised." The Australian team was never a Mike Tyson type, threatening to eat its opponents' children, but it was a team to be feared. It walked into town with its head held high, chest puffed out and talking tough. Even without mouthing the words it said, "We're winners and we're going to grind you into the dust." It's a look we know well. The All Blacks have it, the Melbourne Storm have it and at various times the Brisbane Lions and Broncos have had it. Some people call it confidence. Others call it arrogance. Either way, you need it to win for a sustained period of time. The Australian cricket team had it at the start of the second Test in Sydney. By the third Test in Perth it was gone, stripped away by officialdom, jealous commentators and embarrassed locals who are uncomfortable with success. In the space of a week the Australians got civilised. Ricky Ponting and his team walked out for the first day at the WACA promising to play nice. They made a public commitment to bend over backwards to make their visitors feel right at home. The Indians were nice enough to graciously accept the Australians' offer -- as they would. They were the ones with nothing to lose and everything to gain. In effect, the Aussies were throwing away any advantage they might have had over this very good Indian team. There is very little between the sides. This, after all, is not the Australian team of a few years ago. There is no Shane Warne, no Glenn McGrath, no Justin Langer, no Damien Martyn. The loss of Matthew Hayden through injury has made the top order even more vulnerable. The Australians had home crowds, public support, and that air of superiority -- confidence, arrogance, call it what you will. Hysterical reaction to the team's behaviour in Sydney robbed them of that. The way the ICC backed down to the financial clout of the Indian heavies, the way the Australian authorities panicked over the effect of bad publicity on sponsorship dollars and the success of the anti-Ponting campaign stirred up by a former England B captain who now calls Australia home, all combined to back the team into a corner. These are highly paid professionals whose big pay packets and idyllic lifestyles depend on their popularity. If people don't support them, those people won't buy Fords or KFC, and those companies will no longer want to use the players in those omnipresent adverts. It's a vicious circle. So instead of a confident, arrogant, winning team, we get a nice, civilised one. Maybe a losing one. And you can hear the cry of delight echoing around every other cricket-playing nation. Gotcha.

[The Outsider]

In the space of a week the Australians got civilised.

That being civilized is considered a bad thing by the writer tells me that he is a monkey.

[Guest dada_rocks]

That being civilized is considered a bad thing by the writer tells me that he is a monkey.

I have reported this post to Procter consider ur goose cooked:hysterical:

[Mandrake]

Defeat must be really hurting the cry babies....loving it:hysterical:

[Mandrake]

BTW...couldn't help but notice this gem from the same paper: [h1]Tait promises to bowl bullets[/h1] SPEED machine Shaun Tait last night declared he could deliver cricket's fastest ball of all time on a scary Perth pitch which spells doom and destruction for India in today's third Test http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23058789-5003413,00.html :hysterical::hysterical:

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[ranj]

Aww diddums. Don't be too harsh on him, guys. I heard he's only grumpy because they no longer sell his favourite brand of shampoo.......

[maaki]

Aus did not get civilized .. they made a bad choices.. 1> Sean Tait over Hogg. Why do u need a 4th pacer when u already have 3 good ones. 2> Rogers for opener to replace a injured hayden.. Hussey should have opened and probably Katich should have been called back into middle order. He had exp which Rogers lacked. 3> Asking bowlers to bowl wide outside off or short pitched.. Could never understand this tactic.. Indians bowled a lot on the stumps.. 4> Too many shots too early in the 1st innings when the ball was moving.. They just had a very very poor game..