Are Australian cricket fans the worst in the world?

[SSwans2011]

This isn't a troll thread. Since the Australian team got rid of Langer, we have won an away Test series (didn't happen under Langer), and drawn another (happened once against a shithouse England team under Langer - we haven't managed this in the subcontinent in over a decade).

Yet, one loss in a T20 WC, and the very same fans that will otherwise guffaw at the concept of T20 cricket and call it "hit and giggle" have the pitchforks out.

Really, other than the loss to NZ, the Australian cricket team has hardly put a foot wrong since Langer resigned, and a large percentage of the Australian cricket public have completely turned on the team, going as far as saying they can't even watch the current team (which makes you wonder why they care about the NZ loss so much).

In all seriousness, and as disappointing as it is to see, are supporters of the Australian cricket team some of the biggest crybabies in the world? If you think the turncoat mentality is justified... why? And please keep it strictly related to cricket, and not the fact that the captain dared to have an opinion on the single biggest issue facing humanity.

 

[11kgm]

Have you met Indians

 

[The Passenger]

It's the general mentality of sports followers all around the world now. All codes, all sports, all countries. I think it was media-driven initially but it's definitely permeated into the standard psyche of a sports fan and often into professional clubs (not usually successful ones, mind you!).

Every team is the greatest after a win and the shittest of all time when they lose. This is a slight exaggeration but it's not a million miles from the truth. The pendulum on how any given team is viewed just swings wildly from one week to the next.

It's not even the old-fashioned meltdowns (i.e. Richmond fans microwaving memberships) which were hilarious but lasted a day and then everyone got a dose of calm and worked through their s**t.

Reasoned analysis now seems to consider a team that has lost two games on the trot has not only "been exposed" as pretenders this season, but it's also time to rip up the entire system and start again.

It's nauseating and is honestly making sport nearly unbearable.

It's like people - and if I'm being honest it's not young people, it's mostly people in my age bracket (40yo) and older - who I think have been damaged by the internet and social media and have lost the maturity to go with the ebbs and flows of a season.

 

[akkaps]

Have you met Indians

What makes you say this?

 

[Westend]

This isn't a troll thread. Since the Australian team got rid of Langer, we have won an away Test series (didn't happen under Langer), and drawn another (happened once against a shithouse England team under Langer - we haven't managed this in the subcontinent in over a decade).

Yet, one loss in a T20 WC, and the very same fans that will otherwise guffaw at the concept of T20 cricket and call it "hit and giggle" have the pitchforks out.

Really, other than the loss to NZ, the Australian cricket team has hardly put a foot wrong since Langer resigned, and a large percentage of the Australian cricket public have completely turned on the team, going as far as saying they can't even watch the current team (which makes you wonder why they care about the NZ loss so much).

In all seriousness, and as disappointing as it is to see, are supporters of the Australian cricket team some of the biggest crybabies in the world? If you think the turncoat mentality is justified... why? And please keep it strictly related to cricket, and not the fact that the captain dared to have an opinion on the single biggest issue facing humanity.

Sigh Langer again

Yes Langer is gone but there are a lot of people in the public who believe he was unfairly treated. Yes he did not win an away series tour but he did win a World cup and had a great home Ashes series retained the Ashes in England which had not been done for years . Plus he took over a team which cheated on the world stage without its best players for a time and had to rebuild there respect. Plus those same players who cheated are still playing for Australia today....the public does not forget

So they are some factors why there is a disconnect with Aussie fans

For me Langer is gone and its time to move forward I am more concerned atm with the tactics of the Aussie team and I am interested in how we manage our players with so much cricket going forward

 

[burge13]

This isn't a troll thread. Since the Australian team got rid of Langer, we have won an away Test series (didn't happen under Langer), and drawn another (happened once against a shithouse England team under Langer - we haven't managed this in the subcontinent in over a decade).

Yet, one loss in a T20 WC, and the very same fans that will otherwise guffaw at the concept of T20 cricket and call it "hit and giggle" have the pitchforks out.

Really, other than the loss to NZ, the Australian cricket team has hardly put a foot wrong since Langer resigned, and a large percentage of the Australian cricket public have completely turned on the team, going as far as saying they can't even watch the current team (which makes you wonder why they care about the NZ loss so much).

In all seriousness, and as disappointing as it is to see, are supporters of the Australian cricket team some of the biggest crybabies in the world? If you think the turncoat mentality is justified... why? And please keep it strictly related to cricket, and not the fact that the captain dared to have an opinion on the single biggest issue facing humanity.

I think people saw holes in the team and then we lost so there's a bit of "i told you so" about it.

People are also sick of privileged celebs and athletes lecturing us on climate. Renewables are coming, government investing billions, stfu and play sport. We dont need your lecture

That said i dont hear much about this, hear much more about selections like finch retiring 12-18 months too late...

The wc was too affected by rain to take anything from and India will win as the best team anyway. Had we made the semis we were only making up the numbers. I think a shake up will be good now tbh. Finch, Maxwell, Stoin, Smith, Wade out. Start fresh with Phillipe, Head back in etc. Run our race with current squad

 

[11kgm]

What makes you say this?

They are near fanatical, some of the most annoying people to watch cricket with

 

[SSwans2011]

They aren't lecturing you, they're expressing an opinion as they're perfectly entitled to do. It's not their fault some supporters can't hack a difference in opinion.

They are near fanatical, some of the most annoying people to watch cricket with

What's wrong with being fanatical? Indian fans are fantastic. They bring so much life and joy to matches that they're involved in.

 

[Gough]

They are near fanatical, some of the most annoying people to watch cricket with

Sit with a parochial Australian fan from (insert state here) and you can be questioning the will to live before long. Every country has terrible fans.

 

[11kgm]

Sit with a parochial Australian fan from (insert state here) and you can be questioning the will to live before long. Every country has terrible fans.

I find the poms to be the best, Sri Lanka are great too they genuinely love cricket, NZ/RSA not much of an issue, West Indies are fun to chat to.

I just found Indians to be just blatantly annoying, if i have to hear one more time Kohli is king when he isn't even playing i will murder someone

 

[11kgm]

They aren't lecturing you, they're expressing an opinion as they're perfectly entitled to do. It's not their fault some supporters can't hack a difference in opinion.

What's wrong with being fanatical? Indian fans are fantastic. They bring so much life and joy to matches that they're involved in.

When you sit next to a group of Indian fans and get Kohli is king, Smith is s**t for 6 hours you question your will to live

 

[SSwans2011]

When you sit next to a group of Indian fans and get Kohli is king, Smith is s**t for 6 hours you question your will to live

Sounds like you just had a poor experience with them. I've found them to some of the most jovial and enjoyable fans to watch sports with in the world.

 

[MJG14]

We do seem to have a tendency to turn against our own very quickly. However, I don't think it's uniquely an Australian issue. I've seen some very strongly worded posts on the Indian Cricket Fans forum (just as an example) when India are losing in crucial matches.

I really don't get this view from many Australian fans that Justin Langer would solve all of our problems. Some of the carry on makes it seem like we got rid of the cricket version of Alex Ferguson. I feel like parochialsim plays a part here, perhaps something we see less of with cricket fans from other countries.

 

[eltrain]

Sri Lankan fans for me are the best in the world, if you watched the ODI games that we played over there against them earlier in the year you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The passion, the noise, the fun and dancing, but without any of the arrogance or annoyance that can come from some of the India fanbase. That game where the entire crowd in Colombo was decked out in gold and green waving Australian flags to thank our team for touring will forever stay with me.

That being said, I definitely don’t think we’re the worst. Contrary to what a lot of people have been saying here over the past couple of weeks, Aussies genuinely do care deeply about the success of our team - but this generally only applies to test matches.

We turn up for test matches in big numbers, bigger numbers than anywhere else in the world. Yes we have a very defined window in our calendar where we focus our minds on cricket (and outside that window we tend to lose focus) but that’s a function of our sporting calendar being just so jam packed over the course of the year. The various football codes, tennis, spring racing, F1, netball and basketball (just to name a few) are all played at world class standard in this country, and they are all in competition with cricket for eyeballs.

 

[Rabish Binney]

Sounds like you just had a poor experience with them. I've found them to some of the most jovial and enjoyable fans to watch sports with in the world.

I think the late Andrew Symonds would vehemently disagree.....the way he was treated by the Indian crowd was nothing short of disgraceful. And yet nothing to see here.........

Imagine for one minute the Australian crowds directing monkey chants at Kohli however......

 

[SSwans2011]

I think the late Andrew Symonds would vehemently disagree.....the way he was treated by the Indian crowd was nothing short of disgraceful. And yet nothing to see here.........

Imagine for one minute the Australian crowds directing monkey chants at Kohli however......

Oh no, Australian fans would never, would they...?

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Tarring around a billion fans with one brush due to the actions of a few bad eggs is just silly.

 

[akkaps]

They are near fanatical, some of the most annoying people to watch cricket with

I find this very hypocritical, as I think everyone else has kinda said.
Whilst I can kinda agree with you, what makes that worse to the question posed in the OP.

 

[PhatBoy]

I think the volume of Australian cricket fans who don’t know s**t about the game or overseas players is a bit disproportionately high in my experience - I think cricket fans in England and the Subcontinent are generally fairly knowledgeable about overseas players even if they like to talk s**t about them.

What pisses me off on forums and social media is that every single discussion seems to descend into anything but what is actually happening: it’s all about who ISNT playing. Or why so and so shouldn’t be playing and it is ******* infuriating

 

[SSwans2011]

I think the volume of Australian cricket fans who don’t know s**t about the game or overseas players is a bit disproportionately high in my experience - I think cricket fans in England and the Subcontinent are generally fairly knowledgeable about overseas players even if they like to talk s**t about them.

What pisses me off on forums and social media is that every single discussion seems to descend into anything but what is actually happening: it’s all about who ISNT playing. Or why so and so shouldn’t be playing and it is ******* infuriating

Even the fact that we continue to bang on about a coach who: a) didn't win a single series away from home, b) lost 2 series AT home, c) won a WC once the players basically had CA intervene and minimise his exposure to the team, and d) was finally turfed because he was hated by the players.

And this man is our saviour? We won our first away series for the better part of a decade in the series AFTER he was turfed, but he is our saviour?

It's genuinely painful reading.

 

[11kgm]

Sounds like you just had a poor experience with them. I've found them to some of the most jovial and enjoyable fans to watch sports with in the world.

I have been three test matches and all times i have questioned my will to live, whereas i have found the Poms to be the best a genuinely happy bunch of people

 

[corbies]

Sri Lankan fans for me are the best in the world, if you watched the ODI games that we played over there against them earlier in the year you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The passion, the noise, the fun and dancing, but without any of the arrogance or annoyance that can come from some of the India fanbase. That game where the entire crowd in Colombo was decked out in gold and green waving Australian flags to thank our team for touring will forever stay with me.

That being said, I definitely don’t think we’re the worst. Contrary to what a lot of people have been saying here over the past couple of weeks, Aussies genuinely do care deeply about the success of our team - but this generally only applies to test matches.

We turn up for test matches in big numbers, bigger numbers than anywhere else in the world. Yes we have a very defined window in our calendar where we focus our minds on cricket (and outside that window we tend to lose focus) but that’s a function of our sporting calendar being just so jam packed over the course of the year. The various football codes, tennis, spring racing, F1, netball and basketball (just to name a few) are all played at world class standard in this country, and they are all in competition with cricket for eyeballs.

I'd say its mainly been me saying that and I stand by it. We definitely care deeply about the team if they're losing. We lose our minds when they lose. However I don't think there's a lot of care factor when the team wins. We could say that's a function of being the most successful cricket country by a distance in that its just expected that we win.

However I look at other successful teams in other sports and their achievements are still celebrated wildly when they win. Think Bayern Munich or the All Blacks. It's different with Australian cricket and I've been trying to tie down why that is. It could very well just be my own bias and proximity to cricket.

 

[SSwans2011]

I'd say its mainly been me saying that and I stand by it. We definitely care deeply about the team if they're losing. We lose our minds when they lose. However I don't think there's a lot of care factor when the team wins. You could say that's a function of being the most successful cricket country by a distance in that its just expected that we win.

However I look at other successful teams in other sports and their achievements are still celebrated wildly when they win. Think Bayern Munich or the All Blacks. It's different with Australian cricket and I've been trying to tie down why that is. It could very well just be my own bias and proximity to cricket.

I completely agree with this take. I feel the WC has shown us that when it comes to the Australian cricket team that any badwill (NZ loss) will always be amplified and any goodwill (reigning WC champs, Ashes whitewash, beating Pakistan in Pakistan) will be disregarded as soon as something goes wrong, whether that be as big as a series loss, or as minor as a bad review.

 

[corbies]

I think the volume of Australian cricket fans who don’t know s**t about the game or overseas players is a bit disproportionately high in my experience - I think cricket fans in England and the Subcontinent are generally fairly knowledgeable about overseas players even if they like to talk s**t about them.

What pisses me off on forums and social media is that every single discussion seems to descend into anything but what is actually happening: it’s all about who ISNT playing. Or why so and so shouldn’t be playing and it is ******* infuriating

Talking out of my arse here but I think this has a lot to do with where cricket sits in Australia. It is and has been a significant cultural part of summer in Australia for a long time. There is a huge casual following of cricket because of this and that casual following are still as opinionated as any fan.

I have no figures to back this up but if you took a poll of Australia I'd say the proportion of people who would have at least a passing interest in cricket would far outweigh somewhere like England. But the proportion of those people in Australia who would also say that cricket is their favourite or most followed sport would be far far less than that same England population.

 

[Gough]

I think the late Andrew Symonds would vehemently disagree.....the way he was treated by the Indian crowd was nothing short of disgraceful. And yet nothing to see here.........

Imagine for one minute the Australian crowds directing monkey chants at Kohli however......

Oh no, Australian fans would never, would they...?

Moeen Ali racism claims to be investigated by Cricket Australia

He came up to me and said, I know what you thought I said, but I didnt say that. Ive got Muslim friends and some of my best friends are Muslims

www.skysports.com

Cricket Australia confirms racist abuse at Sydney Test but culprits remain unknown

Six spectators accused or racially abusing the India bowler, Mohammed Siraj, during the third Test earlier this month have been cleared of wrongdoing

www.theguardian.com

Panesar racially abused

Panesar racially abused

www.foxsports.com.au

Usman Khawaja reveals racism in Australian cricket: Was told am not the right skin colour

Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja made shocking revelations about facing racism in his adopted country after he came Down Under from Pakistan in the early 1990s. Khawaja has played 44 Test matches for Australia.

www.indiatoday.in

Tarring around a billion fans with one brush due to the actions of a few bad eggs is just silly.

Cricket is still trying to adjust to a new reality and whether it's the old men in India or the old men in Australia or England, it took a lot longer than it should have done to properly address racism in cricket.

 

[Gethelred]

This isn't a troll thread. Since the Australian team got rid of Langer, we have won an away Test series (didn't happen under Langer), and drawn another (happened once against a shithouse England team under Langer - we haven't managed this in the subcontinent in over a decade).

Yet, one loss in a T20 WC, and the very same fans that will otherwise guffaw at the concept of T20 cricket and call it "hit and giggle" have the pitchforks out.

Really, other than the loss to NZ, the Australian cricket team has hardly put a foot wrong since Langer resigned, and a large percentage of the Australian cricket public have completely turned on the team, going as far as saying they can't even watch the current team (which makes you wonder why they care about the NZ loss so much).

In all seriousness, and as disappointing as it is to see, are supporters of the Australian cricket team some of the biggest crybabies in the world? If you think the turncoat mentality is justified... why? And please keep it strictly related to cricket, and not the fact that the captain dared to have an opinion on the single biggest issue facing humanity.

Yes.