Andrew Symonds is at fault himself

[sideshowtim]

People suggesting that we ban cricket at the stadiums where there is racial abuse...Just ridiculous. Why should an entire CITY suffer based upon the actions of one or two drunk idiots? Throw these people out, ban them for an extensive amount of time, but god damn...Banning cricket at the stadium? Get stuffed!

 

[Craig]

Agreed, that's like people calling me a terrorist just because I made a pipe bomb.

 

[Ikki]

After the Heysel disaster in football (allegedly caused by rioting Liverpool fans), English club teams were banned from European competitions for several years. It gave the impetus for the clubs to sort out the problems we had with hooligans, and we did. No crowd trouble happens at all in English football now. It's Spanish managers who have glass bottles thrown at them, and it's Italian fans who throw flares at opposing players these days.

People getting killed and people getting called racial taunts are two different things. Not saying we should accept one and not the other, but you've lost the plot if you think the seriousness is equal. Furthermore, there is still racial abuse in stands, everywhere in the world.

 

[Burgey]

I don't condone racial abuse of Andrew Symonds but this whole thing could have been easily avoided if he had been a lot more circumspect.

By opening his big mouth about how humble the Aussies were relative to the Indians (which honestly is the biggest load of codswallop I've heard), he wasn't exactly going to endear himself to the Indian players/crowds.
He should have shown a lot more common sense and decorum and I think he may have saved himself a lot of trouble.
It's a bit ridiculous to put all the blame on Sreesanth or the opposition players/crowd when you guys are not exactly saints yourself.

In any case Australia are the best team in the world....sure they perform but I don't see why they need to make comments like what Symonds made....it showed a total lack of sportsmanship and grace This is the think that really irks me about the Aussie players....they need to show their moral superiority in addition to their cricketing one.
The latter IMO is more than enough.
I haven't heard a single Aussie official or publication censuring Symonds for that. Which is very , very disappointing IMO.
If India want to go overboard with their celebrations that's their problem - no skin off my nose.
Australia IMO have to take some of the blame for the bad blood that has existed in this series.

Bollocks mate.

Substitute "Arjuna Ranatunga" for "Andrew Symonds" and "Australian Fans" for "Indian Fans"in the comment which I have emboldened and tell me if your argument makes any sense. Also tell me that there wouldn't be 1,500 CW members lining up to tell you you were attempting to justify racial abuse by the somewhat common tactic of immediately saying "I don't condone it , but.....".

See, there's no more justification for racial abuse against Symonds than there was against the Sri Lankans when Australian supporters thought Arjuna was being uppity in his attitude. There's just no justification in it full stop. If the supporters want to trash Symonds by sledging his ability or telling him he's out of line, so be it. But when you do the racial abuse thing, you have immediately crossed the line.

I can see some merit in your comments about Symonds statements before that game, and if all the fans criticised him on those grounds, there'd be no dramas. The problem, though, is that India came out and said before the series they were going to be aggressive. Now, anyone who's watched them for any length of time knows that its nothing more than feigned aggression, because it isn't the way most of their blokes play. It's transparent - as see-through as cling wrap, it isn't their go. The Aussies saw through it, put some acid back on them, then they went to water - witness Dhoni's appallingly thin-skinned "Rixky used a dirty word" tanty last week. Either give it out and be prepared to take it, or be offended by it but don't do it yourself - you really can't have it both ways unfortunately.

Anyway, good luck to the Indians - their new found aggression has really helped a heap in this series, hasn't it? Especially their softening up of Symonds - he's only scored 365 at 91.25 with a strike rate of 110. Seems obvious to me they've really exposed that mentally soft side.

 

[Anil]

Anyway, good luck to the Indians - their new found aggression has really helped a heap in this series, hasn't it? Especially their softening up of Symonds - he's only scored 365 at 91.25 with a strike rate of 110. Seems obvious to me they've really exposed that mentally soft side.

the problem with the indians is that that kind of aggression doesn't come naturally to them...and it's really unnecessary as well, the aussies win because they've got the talent, determination and confidence to back up their talk, when the indians try to mimic them, it sounds more like a lot of bluster to cover up some nagging uncertainties...

 

[social]

the problem with the indians is that that kind of aggression doesn't come naturally to them...and it's really unnecessary as well, the aussies win because they've got the talent, determination and confidence to back up their talk, when the indians try to mimic them, it sounds more like a lot of bluster to cover up some nagging uncertainties...

Plus history shows that the way to beat Australia is not via physical and verbal intimidation (in fact, that's almost guaranteed to produce a series of big defeats) but by concentrating on your game and playing good cricket.

IMO, some of the Indian team have played right into Oz's hands as they've:

1. gotten the Australians extremely motivated;

2. produced an atmosphere that the Australians generally thrive in; and

3. been focussing less upon the real task at hand, i.e. winning the game and not the war of words.

It's been a harsh lesson for some and some careers could be made or broken by how they react in Australia

 

[honestbharani]

Without reading this thread fully, I will make the following observations:


a. Racism has never EVER existed in India. Discrimination of other sorts may have been there, but no, not racism. WE have never barred people from society based on the color of their skin. (It was always based on caste and at times, religion.) I am not saying one form of discrimination is better than the other. They are all equally bad but the thing is racism is alien to India as casteism is to Australia. It is still very hard for me to imagine that the jerks who did shout out "Black monkey" or whatever meant it in a racist way. In India, we get guys of all colors too pretty much and it is not unusual to be called a "white monkey" or a "black monkey", but given the fact that racism just about does not exist in Indian society, it is never meant or taken with a racist point of view.


b. Having said that, it is high time for our crowds to show sensitivity to other nations' and cultures. It is obviously a bad thing to be said to an Australian and the police and the association staging the match should be reprimanded for letting it happen. The crowds need to be educated on what is ok and what is not ok when it comes to bantering at the players and the buck should stop with the security guys. It is obviously only the first such incident (and from archie's opening post, I guess it is not exactly corroborrated outside) but keeping that aside, strict measures should be taken henceforth to make sure nothing is said which affects players' sensitivities.



c. Symonds doesn't exactly strike me of the sort who will play nice. We should still find out if stuff was actually said at him. And he, along with other players, should also learn to conduct himself. If you keep sledging Indian players or getting in their faces, crowds will get abusive towards you. There is a reason why there should be a code of conduct for players and while the odd sledge and glare may be ok, constantly sledging and getting in the faces of players, esp. icons like Tendulkar will mean crowd trouble. What he does is basically a flame bait. I won't be surprised if we see some racist sledging by some idiots in the Aussie crowd at Sreesanth, if he continues down this stupid path as well. Again, some part of the blame should go to Sreesanth in that case. Not that it is ok to tell racist stuff, but players should also behave in a way that is seen as acceptable. And I think both Sree and Symonds have been way over the mark in this issue.



d. What the hell is up with whatever Symonds said? Is he basically saying the Indians that the Aussie crowds will racially sledge them because that is what happened to them over here? And what the hell is this hostile reception he is talking about? It is one thing to sledge a national cricket team and quite another to utter absolutely ridiculous **** about a nation itself........

 

[Beleg]

it is interesting hb, because racism certainly exists in pakistan...and a lot of my indian friends definitely exhibit both passive and active racism....

 

[Dasa]

a. Racism has never EVER existed in India. Discrimination of other sorts may have been there, but no, not racism. WE have never barred people from society based on the color of their skin. (It was always based on caste and at times, religion.) I am not saying one form of discrimination is better than the other. They are all equally bad but the thing is racism is alien to India as casteism is to Australia. It is still very hard for me to imagine that the jerks who did shout out "Black monkey" or whatever meant it in a racist way. In India, we get guys of all colors too pretty much and it is not unusual to be called a "white monkey" or a "black monkey", but given the fact that racism just about does not exist in Indian society, it is never meant or taken with a racist point of view.

Sorry, cannot agree with that at all. I've heard racist comments from Indians, both in India and outside. Some of the comments I've heard about people being too dark, or comments about Chinese people can't be described as anything other than racism.

 

[pasag]

I won't be surprised if we see some racist sledging by some idiots in the Aussie crowd at Sreesanth, if he continues down this stupid path as well.

Aussie crowds could very well end up loving him tbh, especially if he gives it back to them he could have them eating out of his hands before the end of the tour.

On a side note, people were going on about racist stuff and Monty as well long before the England side toured and nothing happened so I'd wait until anything actually occurs before discussing racism and the Aussie crowds (although I acknowledge you saying you wouldn't be surprised and not there will be incidents).

 

[honestbharani]

it is interesting hb, because racism certainly exists in pakistan...and a lot of my indian friends definitely exhibit both passive and active racism....

I dunno mate, depends on where you have grown up. In my travels across India, I haven't yet come across one instance where someone refuses to do something for because you are black/white. As I said, it basically depends on your caste or religion sometimes, but even that is happily becoming extinct (at least that's how it looks to me) in the cities and towns. Hopefully, that will cascade down to the villages too, as time goes on.

 

[honestbharani]

Aussie crowds could very well end up loving him tbh, especially if he gives it back to them he could have them eating out of his hands before the end of the tour.

On a side note, people were going on about racist stuff and Monty as well long before the England side toured and nothing happened so I'd wait until anything actually occurs before discussing racism and the Aussie crowds (although I acknowledge you saying you wouldn't be surprised and not there will be incidents).

yeah, I am not really saying there will be incidents but if there are and if it is a reaction of Sreesanth continuing to act in the same way even when he is there, then I think some part of the blame should be down to him as well. Let's face it, you go on a tour to some country and one of your players keeps picking up sledging battles with the opposition all the time and esp. with your iconic players... You are basically asking the crowd to get at you. As I said, doing it now and then is ok, but to do it continuously, you are just asking for trouble...

 

[Jono]

Aussie crowds could very well end up loving him tbh, especially if he gives it back to them he could have them eating out of his hands before the end of the tour.

Nah no way.

He's a different character to Nel for example. Sree is going to cop it left, right and centre here in Australia. Not just talking about racist comments, but in general. Brought a lot of it on himself, let's see how he handles it.

 

[pasag]

Nah no way.

He's a different character to Nel for example. Sree is going to cop it left, right and centre here in Australia. Not just talking about racist comments, but in general. Brought a lot of it on himself, let's see how he handles it.

Only because the Aussie cricketers don't like him and yeah if he comes out and says stuff in the media from day one the crowds will be hostile. But he certainly fits into the 'larrikin' category and if he gives back as good as he gets, which the crowds respect heaps, as I said by the end of the tour we could see some mutual affection. Or not

 

[sideshowtim]

Only because the Aussie cricketers don't like him and yeah if he comes out and says stuff in the media from day one the crowds will be hostile. But he certainly fits into the 'larrikin' category and if he gives back as good as he gets, which the crowds respect heaps, as I said by the end of the tour we could see some mutual affection. Or not

No. The crowds will loathe him. Nel doesn't carry on like an idiot when Australia are on 300 with 1 over to go and he dismisses a batsman for 89. Sreesanth's agression is completely fake, occurs at innapropriate and dumb times, and the Aussie crowd will deservedly give him an enormous mouthful. Very misguided if you think we're gonna love him TBH. I hate him, as do many other Aussies I've spoken to. Many other Indians deserve warm receptions, but not SS.

And LOL @ the guy who said racism has never existed in India. If you actually believe this, I advise you to take a step out into the real world. Racism exists in every single society.

 

[pasag]

No. The crowds will loathe him. Nel doesn't carry on like an idiot when Australia are on 300 with 1 over to go and he dismisses a batsman for 89. Sreesanth's agression is completely fake, occurs at innapropriate and dumb times, and the Aussie crowd will deservedly give him an enormous mouthful. Very misguided if you think we're gonna love him TBH. I hate him, as do many other Aussies I've spoken to. Many other Indians deserve warm receptions, but not SS.

And LOL @ the guy who said racism has never existed in India. If you actually believe this, I advise you to take a step out into the real world. Racism exists in every single society.

Haha hate him? Abit OTT there.

And tbh, regardless of what he does he doesn't deserve a 'mouthful', I'd much rather good spirited crowds then angry bogans shouting crap at anyone and anything. And I never said 'we're going to love him', I said I could see a situation of mutual respect/ love occuring, possibly. It could very well go the other way, especially with heaps of you and your friends and the like in the crowd.

 

[silentstriker]

Many other Indians deserve warm receptions, but not SS.

What'd I ever do?

 

[PhoenixFire]

What'd I ever not do?

Corrected.

 

[sideshowtim]

Haha hate him? Abit OTT there.

And tbh, regardless of what he does he doesn't deserve a 'mouthful', I'd much rather good spirited crowds then angry bogans shouting crap at anyone and anything. And I never said 'we're going to love him', I said I could see a situation of mutual respect/ love occuring, possibly. It could very well go the other way, especially with heaps of you and your friends and the like in the crowd.

As an Aussie fan, it's my job to make the experience as uncomfortable for the travelling side as I can. I will gladly express my lack of support for certain members of the opposition if they deserve it. Sreesanth deserves it, and I feel a lot of others are thinking the same thing.

 

[pasag]

As an Aussie fan, it's my job to make the experience as uncomfortable for the travelling side as I can. I will gladly express my lack of support for certain members of the opposition if they deserve it. Sreesanth deserves it, and I feel a lot of others are thinking the same thing.

Well from my point of view, as an Aussie fan, it's my job to make the experience as comfortable and welcoming for the travelling side as I can.