Unpopular Cricket Opinions

archibald

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Dec 15, 2004
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There’s a big difference between being told about something and then seeing it first hand to appreciate its magnitude and reach

Can you only appreciate somethings magnitude by experiencing it first hand? I can recognise there's a gun violence problem in the US without having been shot there.
 
Last edited:
May 5, 2016
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Can you only appreciate somethings magnitude by experiencing it first hand? I can recognise there's a gun violence problem in the US without having been shot there.

Absolutely I can but having never really encountered anyone outside law enforcement who carries a weapon on them in public, I could imagine it will be a lot more confronting to see it.

I knew parts of Italy were dirty - I didn’t expect to see hookers outside my hotel in Naples.

I knew there was a lot of poverty on the outskirts of Paris. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people living in a shanty town was a little bit more engaging however.

Do you not see the difference?

Hell, I know there are some social problems in Redfern in Sydney. Singing at a pub there late on a Saturday night and getting to see particular things happen is somewhat different to being told about it.

All of which, of course, I can find out about at the click of a button in about 5 seconds, incidentally.

How much research do you think a 20-something sex addict cricketer 33 years ago is going to do about skin privilege at South African beaches after being offered a motza to go and play sport
 
Feb 6, 2013
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Absolutely I can but having never really encountered anyone outside law enforcement who carries a weapon on them in public, I could imagine it will be a lot more confronting to see it.

I knew parts of Italy were dirty - I didn’t expect to see hookers outside my hotel in Naples.

I knew there was a lot of poverty on the outskirts of Paris. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people living in a shanty town was a little bit more engaging however.

Do you not see the difference?

Hell, I know there are some social problems in Redfern in Sydney. Singing at a pub there late on a Saturday night and getting to see particular things happen is somewhat different to being told about it.

All of which, of course, I can find out about at the click of a button in about 5 seconds, incidentally.

How much research do you think a 20-something sex addict cricketer 33 years ago is going to do about skin privilege at South African beaches after being offered a motza to go and play sport
I don't think you can really compare something subjective like how dirty or poor a city is with an objective tangible thing like an official government policy of racial segregation.
 
May 5, 2016
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I don't think you can really compare something subjective like how dirty or poor a city is with an objective tangible thing like an official government policy of racial segregation.


And I don’t think you can really compare knowing something exists and seeing it first hand and being impacted by it

I knew the white Australia policy was reprehensible. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t profoundly more effected by it when I married into an aboriginal family and saw the effect it had on the older generations of it
 
Feb 6, 2013
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And I don’t think you can really compare knowing something exists and seeing it first hand and being impacted by it
I'm sure seeing it is more confronting than hearing about it, but it goes back to what archibald was saying. It's kind of setting a low bar to give someone credit for adopting a hardline against racial discrimination after being a victim of it personally.
 
May 5, 2016
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I'm sure seeing it being illegal for black people to do things that whites are allowed to is more confronting than hearing about it, but it goes back to what archibald was saying. It's kind of setting a low bar to give someone credit for adopting a hardline against racial discrimination after being a victim of it personally.

Yeah I get it, but we now live in a world where instantly you can find out everything you need to know about something like that. Players in the 80s wouldn’t have had a clue beyond what they saw on the news in many cases I’d imagine. Out of sight, out of mind.
 
Feb 6, 2013
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Yeah I get it, but we now live in a world where instantly you can find out everything you need to know about something like that. Players in the 80s wouldn’t have had a clue beyond what they saw on the news in many cases I’d imagine. Out of sight, out of mind.
Also to be fair, I'd hazard a guess Whitney was probably embellishing by making that incident the linchpin of his decision to make it more poetic. Going into how "I kind of had my doubts, and was uneasy, and this and that kind of made me more skeptical and then I decided to say no" doesn't make for a good story.
 

MiPiG

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Not sure how unpopular this is but Ian Chappell is an awful cricket pundit. He's on par with Robert Walls (is he still a special comments man on the afl coverage?) with stating useless and obvious stuff. 'They'll be looking for early wickets today'. Up there with Walls 'one team is playing better footy' type rubbish. He also has the most painfullly boring anecdotes. 'Reminds me of the time we were playing at little ground in Antigua and me and Dennis were walking down the street to the bar and we stopped off on the way to buy some onions to tie around our belts which was the fashion at the time, when who should come waling by, but Jeff!' Great thanks. Hows the cricket?
 

archibald

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Dec 15, 2004
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Absolutely I can but having never really encountered anyone outside law enforcement who carries a weapon on them in public, I could imagine it will be a lot more confronting to see it.

I knew parts of Italy were dirty - I didn’t expect to see hookers outside my hotel in Naples.

I knew there was a lot of poverty on the outskirts of Paris. Seeing hundreds of thousands of people living in a shanty town was a little bit more engaging however.

Do you not see the difference?

Hell, I know there are some social problems in Redfern in Sydney. Singing at a pub there late on a Saturday night and getting to see particular things happen is somewhat different to being told about it.

All of which, of course, I can find out about at the click of a button in about 5 seconds, incidentally.

How much research do you think a 20-something sex addict cricketer 33 years ago is going to do about skin privilege at South African beaches after being offered a motza to go and play sport

Totally get what you’re saying. I still think you should be able to make a moral judgement without being personally affected by something, so the story of Whitney doesn’t particularly strike me as an act of social justice heroism.
 
May 5, 2016
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Totally get what you’re saying. I still think you should be able to make a moral judgement without being personally affected by something, so the story of Whitney doesn’t particularly strike me as an act of social justice heroism.

I don’t think it’s heroic either, I do like that it helped push him to the right conclusion though
 
Aug 1, 2006
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Melbourne
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Not sure how unpopular this is but Ian Chappell is an awful cricket pundit. He's on par with Robert Walls (is he still a special comments man on the afl coverage?) with stating useless and obvious stuff. 'They'll be looking for early wickets today'. Up there with Walls 'one team is playing better footy' type rubbish. He also has the most painfullly boring anecdotes. 'Reminds me of the time we were playing at little ground in Antigua and me and Dennis were walking down the street to the bar and we stopped off on the way to buy some onions to tie around our belts which was the fashion at the time, when who should come waling by, but Jeff!' Great thanks. Hows the cricket?

Don’t forget he’ll insert an anecdote about how Les Favell is the greatest cricketer Australia ever had
 
Apr 19, 2013
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I don't even like the guy or want him back in the team so not sure how that makes me delusional. Facts are he is in the best 6 batsmen in the country and Justin Langer loves him.
You're not wrong about the man love. I struggle to see him getting another chance to be honest. Harris, Renshaw and Burns are definitely above him in the pecking order, so he'll have to carve out a career as a middle-order batsman.
 
I was called deluded for saying this in another thread but Cameron Bancroft will be back in the test team sooner rather than later.
His shield form post BBL could make things very very interesting
 
Sep 15, 2011
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If he finds form, he'll be back in. Was finding his form before the suspension, can play middle order or opener and Langer is unlikely to hold the suspension against him as others might. I'd be happy for him to bat at 6 ahead of Head or Labuschagne.
 
May 5, 2016
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Geelong
If he finds form, he'll be back in. Was finding his form before the suspension, can play middle order or opener and Langer is unlikely to hold the suspension against him as others might. I'd be happy for him to bat at 6 ahead of Head or Labuschagne.

He hit 220 at 35 in the series before he was dropped, only a touch better than his career numbers. Not sure that qualifies as finding form. He was batting ok but he still had a lot to prove.
 
Sep 15, 2011
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He hit 220 at 35 in the series before he was dropped, only a touch better than his career numbers. Not sure that qualifies as finding form. He was batting ok but he still had a lot to prove.
He was Australia's highest run scorer in that series away to SA (with two less innings) and average of 37. That's finding your feet.

I agree he had more to prove, which is why his suspension was so much more damaging that Smith or Warner's. At least having a coach to knows and rates him might even the odds a bit of a return.
 
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