Since Wade missed the stumping opportunity today, and I saw that look on the bloke's face for so long after, this has been on my mind. No negative nancies please.
"Australianism" is not a complete myth in my opinion. It is not genetic. It is not culturally hardwired into every Australian who takes to any given field. But it is real. That mongrel, underdog bastard is a very real thing and is quite unlike anything else around the world. It is what turns a really modestly talented bowler like Siddle into a hat trick taker at the MCG and test regular, and it is what drives Lleyton Hewitt to drag his destroyed body up to the line for slams all these years on. It is definitely cultural, because we've seen several of these types come through our ranks, all exhibiting those familiar traits, across sports, a lineage of them, and you never see anything quite like them internationally. The gist is always the same. They can be great or ordinary, but that mongrel lends them something intangible which occasionally brings the exceptional into the realms of possibility, and can make them hard to budge. They tend to trudge on through absurd amounts of duress, routinely to their own and sometimes to the team's detriment, not because they're selfish, but because the desire to do well by the team is backed up by undying belief in their ability to do this no matter the circumstances. This quality frightens opposition sides, because it always leaves the door open for unusual possibilities. It's something of an atypical human trait.
Now I'm not saying all the other cricket sides out there are scared of Australia. That they don't believe they can beat the Aussies. Not at all. But on a competitive level other nations are aware of it as a thing, and it is a point both of respect and intimidation.
The distinction is seen culturally on many an occasion, but is easily missed also. Graeme Smith is lauded as a champion for coming out to bat in Sydney with the busted hand. Courageous effort. Ponting drags himself through a world cup with a destroyed hand bleeding through the bandaging all tournament. Fielding with it, batting with it. No one says mum. But ask the bloke's family, hell ask the medicos - his hand was thoroughly ****ed. He should not have been playing. It could have ended his career. But it's long forgotten now. Ponting himself glosses it over. He wants to win, he is dogged, and he always believes he can do well by the team by being out there.
Lleyton Hewitt's biography, when it comes out, is going to shock a lot of people. Some of the injuries he has played not just through matches with, but full calendar years, will bowl people over. There was a stunning interview at a luncheon with one of his former coaches recently, on which I form my basis for saying this. He plays to his detriment, sickeningly so really.
What gets lost in translation, particularly among the negative nancies on internet forums, is the nature of this whole "mongrel" phenomenon or concept. I've seen a lot of people, Australian, British and sundry, fob the concept off a bit because of guys like Mitchell Johnson rolling up and playing like limp lettuce leaves at times. Downhill skiers in the AFL. Bernard Tomic's pathetic on-court conduct. So I thought I'd throw in my $0.02, and on the cricket board because it's cricket season and seems as good a place as any, to establish a discussion and try to refine this whole idea.
"Australianism", aka "mongrel", is not some mystical thing culturally driven into every Australian. The number of players in sporting sides across the board who to my mind exhibit it would be in the extreme minority. We have mentally weak people just like everyone else. People who don't believe in themselves like everyone else. Foreign sporting sides have strong, tough competitors who can fight to force results. And other nations have their own cultural idiosyncrasies that distinguish them to various degrees. We don't have some magical mortgage on fight. But as someone who's watched a lot of sport, seen a lot of things, and has familial connections to several different cultures, I'm pretty certain mongrel is a legitimate cultural phenomenon, and it is uniquely Australian. They're all of a type. Langer, Border, Jonathon Brown, Waugh, Hewitt, Ponting, and the latest one I suspect is Wade. Mongrels. Unwavering grit, resilience, the desire to keep trudging, but all of an intangible nature. The sort of stuff that means you're always a chance, on your day. The sort of stuff that scared the shit out of the poms at Edgbaston. The sort of stuff that meant Graeme Smith didn't believe his side were in a safe position against the Aussies in that first test back in 2008 until they were within about seven runs of victory, just the four wickets down; and the stuff that inspired John Arlott to name it as a phenomenon way back in 1948.
Sydney is probably the club that best embodies it as a thing across the nation right now. They intimidate sides with that intangible culture.
I actually think we have a few more gritty types in our cricket side at present than we've had for a while, which is nice to see. Bit of a feral edge coming back. I'm not sure of its origin, whether the gut running nature of footy birthed it or what not, but it's a thing for mine, and while we should continue to hold our sportspeople to the highest of standards, I wouldn't get too down on Wade for fumbling the Smith stumping. He has that something about him, has come through a lot, I reckon he will work his arse off to atone for it. Nice to see another dogged prick in the XI
"Australianism" is not a complete myth in my opinion. It is not genetic. It is not culturally hardwired into every Australian who takes to any given field. But it is real. That mongrel, underdog bastard is a very real thing and is quite unlike anything else around the world. It is what turns a really modestly talented bowler like Siddle into a hat trick taker at the MCG and test regular, and it is what drives Lleyton Hewitt to drag his destroyed body up to the line for slams all these years on. It is definitely cultural, because we've seen several of these types come through our ranks, all exhibiting those familiar traits, across sports, a lineage of them, and you never see anything quite like them internationally. The gist is always the same. They can be great or ordinary, but that mongrel lends them something intangible which occasionally brings the exceptional into the realms of possibility, and can make them hard to budge. They tend to trudge on through absurd amounts of duress, routinely to their own and sometimes to the team's detriment, not because they're selfish, but because the desire to do well by the team is backed up by undying belief in their ability to do this no matter the circumstances. This quality frightens opposition sides, because it always leaves the door open for unusual possibilities. It's something of an atypical human trait.
Now I'm not saying all the other cricket sides out there are scared of Australia. That they don't believe they can beat the Aussies. Not at all. But on a competitive level other nations are aware of it as a thing, and it is a point both of respect and intimidation.
The distinction is seen culturally on many an occasion, but is easily missed also. Graeme Smith is lauded as a champion for coming out to bat in Sydney with the busted hand. Courageous effort. Ponting drags himself through a world cup with a destroyed hand bleeding through the bandaging all tournament. Fielding with it, batting with it. No one says mum. But ask the bloke's family, hell ask the medicos - his hand was thoroughly ****ed. He should not have been playing. It could have ended his career. But it's long forgotten now. Ponting himself glosses it over. He wants to win, he is dogged, and he always believes he can do well by the team by being out there.
Lleyton Hewitt's biography, when it comes out, is going to shock a lot of people. Some of the injuries he has played not just through matches with, but full calendar years, will bowl people over. There was a stunning interview at a luncheon with one of his former coaches recently, on which I form my basis for saying this. He plays to his detriment, sickeningly so really.
What gets lost in translation, particularly among the negative nancies on internet forums, is the nature of this whole "mongrel" phenomenon or concept. I've seen a lot of people, Australian, British and sundry, fob the concept off a bit because of guys like Mitchell Johnson rolling up and playing like limp lettuce leaves at times. Downhill skiers in the AFL. Bernard Tomic's pathetic on-court conduct. So I thought I'd throw in my $0.02, and on the cricket board because it's cricket season and seems as good a place as any, to establish a discussion and try to refine this whole idea.
"Australianism", aka "mongrel", is not some mystical thing culturally driven into every Australian. The number of players in sporting sides across the board who to my mind exhibit it would be in the extreme minority. We have mentally weak people just like everyone else. People who don't believe in themselves like everyone else. Foreign sporting sides have strong, tough competitors who can fight to force results. And other nations have their own cultural idiosyncrasies that distinguish them to various degrees. We don't have some magical mortgage on fight. But as someone who's watched a lot of sport, seen a lot of things, and has familial connections to several different cultures, I'm pretty certain mongrel is a legitimate cultural phenomenon, and it is uniquely Australian. They're all of a type. Langer, Border, Jonathon Brown, Waugh, Hewitt, Ponting, and the latest one I suspect is Wade. Mongrels. Unwavering grit, resilience, the desire to keep trudging, but all of an intangible nature. The sort of stuff that means you're always a chance, on your day. The sort of stuff that scared the shit out of the poms at Edgbaston. The sort of stuff that meant Graeme Smith didn't believe his side were in a safe position against the Aussies in that first test back in 2008 until they were within about seven runs of victory, just the four wickets down; and the stuff that inspired John Arlott to name it as a phenomenon way back in 1948.
Sydney is probably the club that best embodies it as a thing across the nation right now. They intimidate sides with that intangible culture.
I actually think we have a few more gritty types in our cricket side at present than we've had for a while, which is nice to see. Bit of a feral edge coming back. I'm not sure of its origin, whether the gut running nature of footy birthed it or what not, but it's a thing for mine, and while we should continue to hold our sportspeople to the highest of standards, I wouldn't get too down on Wade for fumbling the Smith stumping. He has that something about him, has come through a lot, I reckon he will work his arse off to atone for it. Nice to see another dogged prick in the XI
