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Oz can't be nice at Perth
Australia aren't invincible anymore but a lot of people believe that they aren't exactly misbehaved any more either.
- Anjali Doshi
- Updated: January 25, 2008 01:21 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Perth:
Australians have often been called as the bad boys of international cricket. They also just happen to be the best.
The Australians have been consistently at the top of the rankings in Tests and one dayers, but they also hold the number one tag for being the most aggressive, rude, and intimidating opponents.
However, after the fall out of the Sydney Test and accusations that Ricky Ponting's men was behaving like a pack of wild dogs, a different side emerged in Perth. The match in fact, began the way a match should end with 72 hand-shakes, and one pat on the back to show that Harbhajan may have already been forgiven.
What happened over the next four days is history, Australia outplayed in every department of the game and that too in conditions that suited them.
That was reason enough for the Australian media to point fingers at their team again a flip-flop of a journalistic sort.
This is what cricket writer Mike Colman wrote in the Courier Mail: "In the space of a week the Australians got civilized. So instead of a confident, arrogant, winning team, we get a nice, civilised one. Maybe a losing one."
In that lost Test at Perth, the Aussies were visibly more polite, whether it was appealing or talking to their opponents or even congratulating them for a milestone.
Could it all be because they were too nice and behaving contrary to their nature? Some experts seem to think so.
"How will a hen lay an egg, if it can't cackle? asked Navjot Singh Sidhu, 51 Tests and 136 ODIs for India.
So maybe Australia need to find the right mix of aggression and mental disintegration for the time being though players like Mike Hussey who have tasted their first Test defeat are unwilling to give compliments too easily.
The Australians might have come in for criticism for having become too soft versus the Indians, but here's hoping that they don't forget the giant leap that cricket and cricketing spirit has made in the Perth Test.
Australia aren't invincible anymore but a lot of people believe that they aren't exactly misbehaved any more either. Is there a link between the 'win at all cost attitude' of the Australians and their ability to rule the world of cricket.Australians have often been called as the bad boys of international cricket. They also just happen to be the best.
The Australians have been consistently at the top of the rankings in Tests and one dayers, but they also hold the number one tag for being the most aggressive, rude, and intimidating opponents.
However, after the fall out of the Sydney Test and accusations that Ricky Ponting's men was behaving like a pack of wild dogs, a different side emerged in Perth. The match in fact, began the way a match should end with 72 hand-shakes, and one pat on the back to show that Harbhajan may have already been forgiven.
What happened over the next four days is history, Australia outplayed in every department of the game and that too in conditions that suited them.
That was reason enough for the Australian media to point fingers at their team again a flip-flop of a journalistic sort.
This is what cricket writer Mike Colman wrote in the Courier Mail: "In the space of a week the Australians got civilized. So instead of a confident, arrogant, winning team, we get a nice, civilised one. Maybe a losing one."
In that lost Test at Perth, the Aussies were visibly more polite, whether it was appealing or talking to their opponents or even congratulating them for a milestone.
Could it all be because they were too nice and behaving contrary to their nature? Some experts seem to think so.
"How will a hen lay an egg, if it can't cackle? asked Navjot Singh Sidhu, 51 Tests and 136 ODIs for India.
So maybe Australia need to find the right mix of aggression and mental disintegration for the time being though players like Mike Hussey who have tasted their first Test defeat are unwilling to give compliments too easily.
The Australians might have come in for criticism for having become too soft versus the Indians, but here's hoping that they don't forget the giant leap that cricket and cricketing spirit has made in the Perth Test.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Australia Cricket Team
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