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Mighty Aussies get bad press, few supporters
Published on Mon, Jan 07, 2008 at 22:47, Updated on Mon, Jan 07, 2008 at 23:09 in Sports » Others section
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New Delhi: Australian cricketers got a bitter media reception at home on Monday for their ‘unsportsmanly’ cricket at Sydney on Sunday with some cricket writers even asking for the removal of Ricky Ponting as Australian skipper for his 'arrogant and abrasive' conduct.
In fact, the angriest words against the Australians have come not from Indians, but an Australian himself. Peter Roebuck, one of the world's best-known cricket writers, has said that Ricky Pointing should be sacked for his behaviour during the second Test
In a scathing article on Australian newspaper, Sydney Morning Herald, Roebuck said: "Ricky Ponting must be sacked as captain of the Australian cricket team. If Cricket Australia cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players over the past few days."
On the issue of the ICC ban on Harbhajan Singh too, not every Australian is buying the theory of their own cricketers. Newspapers in Australia have conducted polls to gauge the mood of their readers and the responses have been poles apart.
In a poll conducted by Herald Sun, 83 per cent readers said India got a raw deal from the umpires and only 17 per cent felt that Bucknor did a fair job. In a Daily Telegraph survey, 69 per cent readers felt that the three-match ban against Harbhajan was too severe while 31 per cent believed it was justified.
In another readers' survey done by Sydney Morning Herald, 16 per cent of those felt Ponting overreacted to the comment. A rather high 40 per cent felt that Australians can sledge, but can't take it. Eight per cent of those polled said Harbhajan shouldn't have said it, but he shouldn't have been suspended either.
Another 11 per cent felt that Harbhajan did not make a racist comment while 25 per cent said that it was a racist slur and Bhajji's suspension was justified.
In his own column on The Australian, Ricky Ponting however justified his move. "There is absolutely no place for racism in sport or in society generally. I had nothing to gain from taking this action." He also said that it was "surprising and disappointing to hear Anil Kumble suggest that we did not play within that spirit in Sydney."
Former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram, however, felt the Australian players behaved like 'cry babies' by winging about racism when they had been world cricket's worst sledgers.
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