Great discussion this! And it is hard to fault a lot of it.

Channel Nine's plugging of 3 Mobile etc during the telecast has increased. Too many live reads now.

The Australian cricket team is acting quite arrogant. This probably does influence crowd behaviour as players are role models (whether they like it or not). Some unruly crowd behabiour comes from a lack of entertainment. But you cannot say that was the case in Brisbane. I also think that sometimes bad behaviour is a problem because there is more reporting. Of course that is because as a society we expect more of our peers with respect to conduct in public - and that is not a bad thing. When there are so many people in such a confined space with grog on sale you are bound to get issues. Just come down hard on the louts.

The Symonds incident was an overreaction. The bloke stepped out and invaded Roy's personal space. Given how fatigued he was I can understand his judgment being clouded. I lost it in the aftermath where instead of saying "I overreacted because I was fatigued" there were calls for tunnels and all that rot.

The season was too long. The VB Series went extra long because there were fewer midweek games. I wouldn't mind seeing the end of the triangular series and in future Australia plays an ODI and a Twenty20 series against each Test tourist.

E.g. this year Australia would have played 3 Tests v the Windies, 5 ODIs and a Twenty20. Ditto with the Saffies (but maybe with 3 Twenty20s instead of 1). The amount of cricket our players play doesn't change that much, all games feature Australia meaning most major centres get a good dose of Aussie cricket. That way you can create perpetual trophies between the countries in ODIs (like Test series do and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy). The VB Series has no prestige whatsoever. I have never held it in any regard. It's just a series of games. Nobody around the world says "it has always been our ambition to life the VB Series" but if it was more bilateral and fierce in rivalry then people would care.

I agree that the issue of crowd behaviour is exaggerated by intense media coverage as it this behaviour has been going on since the 70’s at the cricket I presume. It seems more of a problem now as those fans aren’t segregated as much as they were back then. Fans who belong on the Hill are now sitting next to families (aka anonymous whistle blowers), it can’t be helped due to ticketing procedures and stadiums with no sections that have identity like the Gabba. And we all know that this is always going to cause problems as both sets of fans go to the cricket for completely different reasons and then behave the way they plan to when they go.

At the end of the day, stupidity breeds stupidity, Ricky Ponting is the dumbest captain Australia has had, he was an alcoholic, still maybe one, he can’t be respected (as a person) other than what he does on the field. This means that the culture of the Australian side will stink even more for years to come (they guilty will be in the side for years to come) as it is entrenched in the boozy culture that Warne, Ponting, and Symonds and co bring plus the selfish/obnoxious/geeky/arrogant/spoilt culture that McGrath, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist, Watson and co bring. This is their legacy, they have an enormous influence on the Australian cricket community as they show the community how to behave. They have completely f…d it up, a generation of people in Australia will be influenced to be like them and I’d be very surprised if it ever changes.

The Australian side is a little stupid nerdy boys club, if you don’t fit in, it is likely that you won’t be in the side long because if you’re not accepted by them, it is likely that you will struggle to last long. Look at Paul Wilson and Martin Love, they were good enough to play but their characters didn’t fit in so conveniently their careers didn’t last long. I’m amazed how Stuart MacGill has had such a long and good career. Look at Langer and Brad Hodge, they were the biggest brown noses when they got in the squad, they sucked up big time, and now they seem settled in the little stupid nerdy boys club. As soon as Michael Slater didn’t fit in that club, he was out in a flash. Sometimes I wonder what Jason Gillespie did wrong, he is Australia’s 2nd best fast bowler behind Lee and can’t even be considered.

It is amazing how exactly the same thing happened in Tennis around the same time. Rafter and Hewitt are complete f…wits, just completely selfish, arrogant, spoilt, and stupid. They are completely responsible for The Fanatics which is not surprising given their personalities, and they continue to ruin what was such a respectable sporting culture. Mark Philippoussis has somehow been made out to be the villain over the years in the media (probably cos he is a greek/italian), while it has been Rafter and Hewitt who are a disgrace and Philippoussis who deserves all the accolades he can get as he has shown integrity throughout his whole career and has more talent on his little finger than those two brats.

I think the same has happened with the Wallabies and Swimming to a lesser extent.

I think I’ve said all what I wanted to say so I will let it go… for now… I was actually going to start a new thread naming my beef with Australian athletes.

Thank God we still have the Socceroos, otherwise there would not follow a team that represents my nationality. I do like the Kangaroos but am more interested in seeing tight, competitive internationals regularly before I worry about supporting them properly again.

The reasons why I hate One Dayers at the WACA is they are so overly security cautious, and they have a no alcohol policy on the hill, thus illegal alcohol from out of the ground is smuggled into the area and then their evicted...for crying out loud the Hill's are meant for larrikans and drinking...




Come on mate, I think you over-emphasise Cricket's job in contaminating Australian society, what about the League, Football Culture in Australia, is that not stuffing people as well? I can't remember the last alleged rape case...or off field incidents (under ponting, You have people like Gilchrist being made out as a stand out citizen because of his walk if he thinks he's out)

Seriously despite the claims of old boys club, they have in every sence of the word deserved to be there...your comments on Langer are so inaccurate that there's no need for me to highlight them anymore.






Colin Miller, Stephen Fleming? Popular with the boys club, yet didn't get much of a shot, Miller even Test Player of the Year one year, yet was not even playing Test Cricket the next year...are we just pulling names out of a hat to top up the argument? Martin Love is like Lehmann, Siddons - Born in the wrong era to have been a batsman, I don't agree about this sentiment that they didn't get a game because of not fitting in.



It may have been against weak opposition, but did you see the Langer/Hayden Partnership at the best, following Langers admittance to the opening partnership with Hayden...the bloke was pushed out by one of the most outstanding purple patches an opening pair has ever done...regular 200-300 run partnerships, Slater had personal problems...its a ridiculous statement to assert that he lost it because he didn't fit in the club.



Yeah I also remember Rafter donating over 250,000 to charity after his US Open win...the bloke is a prick, spoilt just as you say...seriously DH I think you need to go to therapy and deal with your issues

Agree Phillipoussis was unfairly targeted...but hey despite this he still kept his Aussie citizenship (despite obviously being sought by Greece to represent them at the Olympics for big dollars...the bloke valued playing for Australia more)...people forget to easily Niece and Melbourne Davis Cup, the bloke is a legend...his win in Niece will go down as one of the best Davis Cup performance by any Australian...as will Hewitt's win against Gustavo Kuerton in Florianopolis.



Probably after the world cup when they start making media statements, their ego's will flow through and you will have no national sporting teams...

Yes Cricket is corporate, but hey try living in Perth with the Weagles and Dockers, you find tolerance for corporate, plastic clubs much easier to take...when you have the epitomy of plastic clubs in your own backyard (Sorry for offending Eagles and Dockers fans) you find Cricket's corporate image minor...a million dollars a year - But have a more demanding playing schedule then nearly every other sport that gets a comparable wage in Australian Sport...

Going on history there is a good chance that will happen, I don’t think it will though as they should always have perspective in the form of playing Brazil, Argentina, Holland, France, England, Italy, Germany etc. All other Aussie athletes don’t have that perspective.

Sincerely doubt it. The Oz media doesn't even register on their radar for most and they've dealt with ridiculous media adulation throughout the careers in Europe. After 16.11.2005 I thought they kept their heads very well. No bullshit "we're going to destroy AFL/NRL" etc.

This is the most likeable Socceroos team I have ever known. Even Kewell is likeable.

ignoring the crap coming from both sides:
Summer should be 5/6 tests (against 1 or 2 teams). This works well....etc this year, when the standard of the Windies meant that playing them for 5 matches would be a disaster. Then one or two 20twenties (perhaps against the first team). Chappell Hadlee should NOT fall in the middle of the summer at all. I guess this year we had the super series beforehand, so the summer was extended. then maybe 5-7 one dayers against the second team (which should be chosen as the stronger team....hence they get the bigger Boxing Day and New Year tests).

The Mistral of enlightenment just blew in with that post.

Can I just mention.

The VB Series in Perth got a ground record since redevelopment at the ground of 20,081 defeating the Twenty/20 game of last year.

And the South Africans in Perth boosted the One Dayer on Tuesday Night by over 3000 more then it normally gets...7675 people attended the match on Tuesday Night at the WACA.

Thus some positive news to be added to the thread...

Today's Age -
Spookie Boonie gives grandmother a scare
By Nabila Ahmed
February 19, 2006

THE Boonie doll has taken on a life of its own this summer, with the man himself confessing to ExtraCover that even he had no idea how it would take off. Boonie tells us he even has a miniature plastic version of himself at home as "my kids find it very amusing". But the best story about the doll involves "a grandmother I know", says the Australian selector. The grandmother in question was holidaying on the NSW coast recently when she declined an invitation to go down to the beach with the rest of the family to get some rest in the air-conditioned cool of the house. But when her son-in-law returned several hours later, he found her sitting outside, frightened and with sweat dripping from her. "We've got to sell this house," she told him. When he asked why, she said it was haunted. "Apparently she said 'I was just about to doze off when I heard this voice telling me to go to the fridge and get him a beer because the cricket was starting. There's no one in the house. It's haunted'." ...

very funny however the lady doesnt think so

lmfao

i didnt get a bonnie

I did it freaked me out...they worked even with the Television switched off