WHAT THE HAY????????

[joshhem]

Brian lara man of the series?????? Your shitting me!!!

 

[ant]

Totally agree with you Joshem, even though he averaged 56 or so for the premliminary games, one of the Aussies or possibly Heath Streak should have won it. The rotation system obviously costs our guys. Mark Waugh's three(?) centuries I thought would have got him the nod, but who knows what they were thinking. Maybe it was meant as a parting gift.

 

[NICK THE PIE MAN]

That is the most god awful decison i have ever heard. He already has a bloody harly for winning the man of the series in the '96 Carlton United series. You couldn't go past Mark Waugh for the award.

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"Collingwood forever"

 

[Concerned Prude]

I thought Lara's parting gift was some checkout chick he picked up at Just Jeans in Melbourne after he dumped that Pommie Chick this award is just icing on the cake.

 

[SpecialBruce]

Don't any of you have some bloody sympathy for the West Indies. Being out done by the STUPID Australian umpires with shocking LBW decisions and I might add it that I want the LBW to go. They are wrong most the time. Take tonights for example. I agree with Michael Holding saying if it was an Australian there replacing Powell, then it would have been given not out. The West Indies have been struggling all summer, giving it their best and that's all you can ask for. Lara has been consistent this series with only 1 century but other runs which helped him score over 300 runs. Just think, If you didn't have the West Indies and Zimbabwe coming here, you wouldn't have a series so really there is no need for questioning man of the series.
If you question anything it's those bloody umpires. I think it's stupid having 2 Aussie Umpires. They had 1 Aussie umpire in the test matches, why not go with 1 or maybe 2 international umpires?
Yet again - Zimbabwe and West Indies didn't make Australia win, it was the Australian umpires that one all the matches for Australia.
Next year the ACB should get their hand out of their arses and get some International umpires.



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Go Hoppers!!

 

[ant]

Bruce,

Do you really think the umpire's 'won' games for Australia?? There's been the odd bad decision but nothing that would have changed any result during the series. The Aussies were clearly the dominating team and to blame the umpires for it is absurd. Are you Australian or what???

 

[GoEagles]

Bruce, bit harsh on the umpires IMHO - the Aussies were the dominating team all series and they never really looked like being beaten (apart from the Zimbabwe game in Perth)

But I do agree that since it's an International game there should be one International umpire in the one day games too.

 

[GoEagles]

Bruce, bit harsh on the umpires IMHO - the Aussies were the dominating team all series and they never really looked like being beaten (apart from the Zimbabwe game in Perth)

But I do agree that since it's an International game there should be one International umpire in the one day games too.

 

[walshy1993]

who runs one day cricket???

packer


y would packer have an influence in making lara the player of the series???

to sell papers


make sence????

 

[GoEagles]

Was it me or did Lara say he didn't deserve the award and wanted the ACB/CUB to have a points system for future years in voting for the player of the series.

Maybe he could auction the motorbike off on eBay and give the money to charity or some good cause?

 

[Dipper]

Whilst I have no doubt that the Aussies would have won every game even with 2 neutral umpires officiating,there does seem to be a consistent thread of ......ahem how shall we say, dubious decisions that tend to go Australia's way-I still remember the shocker in the last Ashes series (I think it was at Sydney) when Slater was run out (the replay showed this 2 b the case) & yet the 3rd umpire gave him not out & Slater went onto make a dashing century out of a total of about 180(?)& we lost the game & the series (of course it would have been a travesty if we had drawn the series but that's not the point)

 

[JUBJUB]

Mark Waugh scored 359 runs at an average of 89.75
Brian Lara scored 337 runs at an average of 48.14

How the hell did Lara get player of the series ????????

p.s It doesn't include finals which would've made Waugh look even better than Lara

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"Hey ,just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand"

 

[dees01]

I know it was very bemusing. But I would like to congratulate Lara on his speech. He declared he didn't deserve to win it and told the ACB to look at how they make the decision for this award. He handled it very well I thought.

 

[ArdenSt]

It is beyond question that Mark Waugh should have won the man of the series based on personal statistics as well as team results. However, the powers that be decided that Lara was the choice. I thought the performance by the crowd when it was announced was disgraceful. To boo Lara was appalling, in fact it was as bad as the man of the series choice itself. I thought Lara handled his speech very well in the circumstances, and appeared to be humble in his acceptance of the award. The fact is that I think that Lara was embarrassed by his win, and the crowd did not make it any easier for him.

He is a fantastic player, and whether you like him or not he did not deserve that treatment from the crowd. I have been bemused by the unsportsmanlike behaviour by Australian crowds for many years. If things go against the home team they tend to attack the opposition or the umpires.

I remember the last time I ever went to a basketball game. It was a final in Perth and the Melbourne Tigers beat the Perth Wildcats. When Andrew Gaze and his old man came up to accept the trophy, much of the crowd booed, drowning out his acceptance speech. I, and many others were disgusted that probably the best player Australia has ever produced was terated this way, and I haven't been to a game since. It is the sort of behaviour that gives Oz a bad name overseas.

Sure, yell and scream and sledge etc. during the game, but once it is over, accept defeat if it comes your way, and show some respect for your opponents. Waugh should have won the award, he didn't, so accept it and show some respect for one of the finest players in the world, who didn't have a bad series himself without much help from his teammates.

In closing I would like to emphasise that I am not a great fan of Lara's, and fell off my seat when the award was announced, but nothing we can do can change it, so you just accept it.

Cheers, ArdenSt

 

[RogerC]

ArdenSt, hear hear. My thoughts exactly. But the bloodlust exhibited by the crowd is simply the bloodlust of the players writ large. All this relentless pursuance of opposition players and teams, through blind aggression and plain bad sportsmanship, is destroying my enjoyment of the sport. I'd love to be able to applaud Australia's achievements, but on almost every occasion I have to balance it against the embarrassment of seeing yet another petulant display by McGrath or Warne or Ponting or McGill.

Besides why should I congratulate them when they're such a good job of congratulating themselves? Witness this ridiculous Allan Border award. What a weak excuse for a bout of back slapping. If we ever forget their achievements I'm sure there'll be someone on hand (S Waugh, probably) to remind us. Did Don Bradman's players carry on like this? I sure hope not.

 

[walshy1993]

the decision is crap
but u have to love lara's reaction
"i agree with the crowd (insert crowd boo's)"

and what about m.waugh when asked about the decision
"i dont know how to ride a motorbike anyway"

 

[JUBJUB]

I don't think the crowd were booing Lara.They were booing the people that made the decision.

I blame bloody Tony Greig

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"Hey ,just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand"

 

[Visro]

Spot on JUBJUB..........when in doubt......blame.......blame.......um....................TONY GREIG!!!! STUPID ANTI-AUSTRALIAN SOUTH AFRICAN..............

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I was put on this Earth to complete a certain number of tasks. I am so far behind I will never die...

 

[Darky]

I agree it was a baffling decision, but consider this...

Brian Lara's average and run tally would have been higher if he had to bat against the West Indies attack.
Mark Waugh's average and run tally would have been lower if he had to bat against the Australian attack.

The difference is not as great as it may seem.