Giles Clarke, supremo of the England and Wales Cricket Board has been pontificating this week about England fans reaction to Aussie players, particularly Ricky Ponting. Mr Clarke, whose over-riding acheivement as ECB head has been to take test match cricket off the TV screens of millions and minimise the audience for test cricket by taking the Murdoch dollar, should really save his musings for behind the closed doors of his London gentleman's club.
The Ashes is about an intense and passionate rivalry between two intensely proud sporting nations. Any England player who has ever played at the MCG or the WACA should know about the 'fruity' atmosphere and witty repartee of Aussie crowds towards English players. I fail to see why English crowds should be castigated for fully backing their team and enaging in playful banter with the opposition. The Aussie players know the passion of the English crowds. As Ponting himself said, the atmosphere and the occasional booing is just part of the incredible sporting tension of the Ashes.
It is about time that Giles Clarke and others in their ivory towers stopped pretending to be the sole custodians of what they call the 'spirit of the game'. Indeed, Clarke selling out the birth right of English cricket for Sky's millions is a far bigger violation of the spirit of the game than fans booing Ponting. The top dogs at the EBC have no right whatsoever to lecture hard working people who have forked out a considerable amount of money to buy a ticket for test match cricket. I, for one, am pleased that the good people of Leeds blew Giles Clarke et al a metaphorical raspberry at Headingley on Friday afternoon.
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3 months ago
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