A not very complimentary article in the Observor

[Aritro]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,1843752,00.html

Some parts of it shamefully true, other parts a complete exaggeration.

I do think Monty will be embraced as a figure of fun more than anything though.

[Grimwood]

I must admit I was struck by a few posts I've seen on here claiming that Monty, Saj et al aren't 'English'. That to me at least indicates some kind of low lying ignorance of racial integration amongst a select few.

Beyond that I'm not really in a position to comment.. but if Australia does have a problem with racism then it's certainly not alone. From a cricketing point of view we just have to hope it doesn't cause problems during the Ashes.

[Homer Jnr]

We will give them more stick than ever, it will be personal, it will be scathing and if they don't cry about getting called a 'Pommy fly-in who's mum cooks a good breakfast" or similar time and time again, they will get somewhere.

There will be tiny pockets around every ground where the term 'cockpit jockey' may be used, and after plenty of drinks, it may cause laughter, but hopefully not condonement.

[Freo Big Fella]

There is no escaping the fact that Panesar will be targeted. He is the new Phil Tufnell, who never failed to wind up the Australians. Panesar's problem is his niceness. If they perceive any weakness, they will pounce on him. Mahmood, big, fast and physical, looks as though he can take care of himself. He has a quick man's snarl, as he demonstrated at Headingley. But Panesar is only one dropped catch away from ridicule, on both sides of the boundary.

So what they're saying is that we're racist if we get stuck into Monty if he fluffs a boundary catch?

This is not an imagined fear.

Good, hopefully you'll provide some examples.

The West Indians have long complained that the Australians' sledging goes beyond accepted limits.

Like?......? Come on, surely the Pommie masses aren't silly enough to form an opinion without a concrete example?

Darren Lehmann infamously called a Sri Lanka player a 'black ****' in Adelaide three years ago.

Stupid stuff from Boof. He copped a ban, apologised and no longer plays in the national side. Cant see how that reflects on the supporters or the current squad.

Muttiah Muralitharan has been branded a chucking cheat there, and the opprobrium has not been restricted to the technical.

So does that make the Barmy Army a vile racist mob as well? They continuously sound off about Muralis dodgy action, not to mention the "No-Balling" of Brett Lee they continuously engage in. How is voicing a valid opinion over the legitimacy of a bowlers action racist in any way at all?

The South Africans complained about racist remarks in the crowd last winter.

Excellent point. Only it fails to acknowledge that the remarks were made in Afrikaans. By South Africans.

I've heard it there myself when a friend, objecting to a late-afternoon diatribe against India in Melbourne, was greeted with a vicious, drunken '**** off, ****** lover.'

I've heard the same sorts of things from idiots at Lords and Old Trafford. I'm smart enough not to let it reflect on the supporter base of an entire side.

The Australian author and former cricket writer Malcolm Knox created a storm in the wake of the Lehmann embarrassment. 'I was taken to task for "inventing" trouble where none existed,' he wrote. 'Yet I'd seen racism with my own eyes. On a tour to India, I heard two Australian cricketers call the locals "*******". I saw Australian cricketers coming across Indians sleeping on a railway platform in Jamshedpur and nudging them awake with their feet to take a happy snap.'

More hearsay. Can't see how it proves that Panesar and Mahmood are going to be confronted with rows of hooded Klansmen when they step onto an Australian Cricket ground, which is what the article seems to be arguing.

He had spoken to Indian-Australians who supported India, not Australia, because they had been excluded from school and club teams.

Interesting that he doesn't appear interested in interviewing the Australian supporters in India. You know; the ones that get bricks, bottles and rotten food thrown at them for "daring" to wave an Australian flag at Eden Gardens.

It was a mirror of Mahmood's experience at Headingley - with a crucial difference. 'While English sporting clubs struggle to harmonise different cultures,' Knox said, 'Australian clubs fix the problem by leaving non-whites out.'

What an absolute load of garbage. I'll point to Shawn Gillies, Richard Chee-Quee, Darren and Gavin Wates, the Mascarenhas brothers, Andrew Symonds, Dav Whatmore and Jason Gillespie off the top of my head. All play, or have played regular club, state or international cricket for Australia. There are many more than I can think of within 30 seconds. Hardly "leaving non-whites out". That's almost libel worthy.

Every right-thinking person will be disgusted if Panesar and Mahmood are racially abused, but one Australian player, in particular, will know what it feels like. Jason Gillespie, who is descended from the Kamilaroi people of northern North South Wales, is proud of his Aboriginal roots. He was puzzled why some English drunks two Ashes tours ago insisted on asking: 'Where's your caravan?'

Interesting. Now he's making distinctions. When it's english racists it's "some drunks" but he indicts the entire Australian crowd for the equivalent behaviour.

Last summer, the 'Pikey' chants dimmed. There were a few idiots, but they were isolated. As Knox says, assimilation is far in advance in the UK.

"A few idiots" sounds like the exact phrase that can be used to describe what goes on here. That wouldn't sell many papers though.

It upsets fair-minded Australians to admit it, but racism is a lingering problem there. It has manifested itself in so many ugly incidents at cricket grounds recently that the International Cricket Council sent India's solicitor-general, Goolam Vahanvati, to investigate. He concluded that racial abuse by spectators on South Africa's tour last winter 'could not be explained away as being the result of drunken behaviour'. It was, he said, 'premeditated, coordinated and calculated to get under the players' skins'.

Again, it's very rich for Indians to lecture on racism. Vahanvati was sent over here on a witch hunt. As I've already said (and has been widely reported, but ignored by biased parties looking to attack Australian cricket), the abuse of the South African team was made by bitter, white, South African expats.

He added: 'There is a grave problem in Australia relating to crowd behaviour, particularly drunken spectators.'

There are problems in every country relating to crowd behaviour. English fans invading the pitch on the 2001 Ashes Tour, West Indian fans doing the same thing, Kiwis throwing debris at Australian players, Indian fans throwing bricks and garbage at Australian fans. But of course, Australia is now the prime target of the ICC for everything, so all these other examples are ingored.

The ICC will issue guidelines for the tour when they meet in October. Maybe the chants will start to fade.

Perhaps we might see a fair and even handed approach to dealing with unruly crowd behaviour the world over, but then we may have to cancel all international tours due to the large amount of flying pigs that would suddenly appear.

Maybe then the likes of Murali, Monty and Sajid will feel free to enjoy their cricket there, even on the boundary at the MCG

I'll take the opportunity now to say that I in no way condone racial abuse, only that I disagree with the mean spirited indictment of innocent Australian fans and players that the ICC has been engaged in since last summer. One of the highlights of the Ashes will be seeing Monty bowl (and hopefully meeting him if the talk of getting him for our club sportsmans night is accurate) and as a Lancashire fan, it's great to see Sajid getting settled into test cricket.

My thoughts on Murali are well known, and his petulant attitude towards Australian crowds mean that he's made his own bed. No matter how badly his supporters try to paint it; "Chucker" and "No-Ball" aren't racist taunts.

Racism is a worldwide problem for cricket, it needs a worldwide solution. The fact that Malcolm Speed and his merry men seem to think that attacking Australian fans (the bulk of whom have done nothing wrong) will solve the problem is a sad indicator of the widespread incompetence of the ICC.

[mark73]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,,1843752,00.html

Some parts of it shamefully true, other parts a complete exaggeration.

I do think Monty will be embraced as a figure of fun more than anything though.
Could have sworn Gatting raised concerns to the ICC over Muralitharans action.I wonder if he falls into the same category.To be honest, its just typical childish pommy ambulance chasing, something their media is renowned for.And why you bothered even reading it is beyond me.If Panesar cops any sh1t in Australia, it'll more likely come from Indians living here.Likewise Mahmood with the resident Pakistani's.Australians will be too busy cheering their own team to worry about what poms are doing.But, it is the pommy media, and it wouldn't be the pommy media if they weren't attempting to beat something up regardless of how laughable they often are.

[Browney2006]

So what they're saying is that we're racist if we get stuck into Monty if he fluffs a boundary catch?



Good, hopefully you'll provide some examples.



Like?......? Come on, surely the Pommie masses aren't silly enough to form an opinion without a concrete example?



Stupid stuff from Boof. He copped a ban, apologised and no longer plays in the national side. Cant see how that reflects on the supporters or the current squad.



So does that make the Barmy Army a vile racist mob as well? They continuously sound off about Muralis dodgy action, not to mention the "No-Balling" of Brett Lee they continuously engage in. How is voicing a valid opinion over the legitimacy of a bowlers action racist in any way at all?



Excellent point. Only it fails to acknowledge that the remarks were made in Afrikaans. By South Africans.



I've heard the same sorts of things from idiots at Lords and Old Trafford. I'm smart enough not to let it reflect on the supporter base of an entire side.



More hearsay. Can't see how it proves that Panesar and Mahmood are going to be confronted with rows of hooded Klansmen when they step onto an Australian Cricket ground, which is what the article seems to be arguing.



Interesting that he doesn't appear interested in interviewing the Australian supporters in India. You know; the ones that get bricks, bottles and rotten food thrown at them for "daring" to wave an Australian flag at Eden Gardens.



What an absolute load of garbage. I'll point to Shawn Gillies, Richard Chee-Quee, Darren and Gavin Wates, the Mascarenhas brothers, Andrew Symonds, Dav Whatmore and Jason Gillespie off the top of my head. All play, or have played regular club, state or international cricket for Australia. There are many more than I can think of within 30 seconds. Hardly "leaving non-whites out". That's almost libel worthy.



Interesting. Now he's making distinctions. When it's english racists it's "some drunks" but he indicts the entire Australian crowd for the equivalent behaviour.



"A few idiots" sounds like the exact phrase that can be used to describe what goes on here. That wouldn't sell many papers though.



Again, it's very rich for Indians to lecture on racism. Vahanvati was sent over here on a witch hunt. As I've already said (and has been widely reported, but ignored by biased parties looking to attack Australian cricket), the abuse of the South African team was made by bitter, white, South African expats.



There are problems in every country relating to crowd behaviour. English fans invading the pitch on the 2001 Ashes Tour, West Indian fans doing the same thing, Kiwis throwing debris at Australian players, Indian fans throwing bricks and garbage at Australian fans. But of course, Australia is now the prime target of the ICC for everything, so all these other examples are ingored.



Perhaps we might see a fair and even handed approach to dealing with unruly crowd behaviour the world over, but then we may have to cancel all international tours due to the large amount of flying pigs that would suddenly appear.



I'll take the opportunity now to say that I in no way condone racial abuse, only that I disagree with the mean spirited indictment of innocent Australian fans and players that the ICC has been engaged in since last summer. One of the highlights of the Ashes will be seeing Monty bowl (and hopefully meeting him if the talk of getting him for our club sportsmans night is accurate) and as a Lancashire fan, it's great to see Sajid getting settled into test cricket.

My thoughts on Murali are well known, and his petulant attitude towards Australian crowds mean that he's made his own bed. No matter how badly his supporters try to paint it; "Chucker" and "No-Ball" aren't racist taunts.

Racism is a worldwide problem for cricket, it needs a worldwide solution. The fact that Malcolm Speed and his merry men seem to think that attacking Australian fans (the bulk of whom have done nothing wrong) will solve the problem is a sad indicator of the widespread incompetence of the ICC.
Seriousely, why would you even bother, its an article.....

[Lloyd Dobbler]

Quote:
Every right-thinking person will be disgusted if Panesar and Mahmood are racially abused, but one Australian player, in particular, will know what it feels like. Jason Gillespie, who is descended from the Kamilaroi people of northern North South Wales, is proud of his Aboriginal roots. He was puzzled why some English drunks two Ashes tours ago insisted on asking: 'Where's your caravan?'

Surely all that 'Where's your caravan?' business had nothing to do with Gillespie being Aboriginal (I've lived in Australia for quite a while now and I only found out that Gillespie was of Aboriginal descent about 6 months ago) it'd have more to do with some of the English crowd thinking Gillespie looks like a Gypsy ( hence the 'caravan' business). Them giving him sh*t for looking like a gypsy could still be perceived as a form of racism.

[linger_isgod]

Excellent point. Only it fails to acknowledge that the remarks were made in Afrikaans. By South Africans Wasn't there a school of thought that the taunts were made in very very ordinary Afrikaans - i.e. not likely from expats?

[Romeo]

Wasn't there a school of thought that the taunts were made in very very ordinary Afrikaans - i.e. not likely from expats?

The inquiry ascertained that some of it was started by bona fide ex-pat Saffies but was later copied by many Aussies who thought it was a great idea to continue the taunts if they were going to annoy the South Africans. Some within earshot definitely concluded that a lot of the words were spoken with Aussie accents. We can only hope that our crowds don't follow suit this season with guys like Monty possibly in their sights. Nobody objects to good-natured bantering. And the Saffies themselves said they expected abuse but can't tolerate racially aimed abuse under any circumstances.

[Cap]

So if I say I really don't like the british - does that make me racist ?

I might quickly ask the author of tha appaling bias article :thumbsd: