...carrying on like kids...

I'm officially over the squabbling between Indian and Australian "cricket" (in general not just the cricketers" this year. I've been as guilty as most, at provoking, digging, and being petty.

There is a great post over on Will's site (the Corridor) that crystallised this for me just now.

Every time we've had cricket with a bit of passion this summer, it ends up with the BCCI, Indian team management, the ICC or even the ACB (and certainly the entire Blogosphere) complaining/protesting, threatening to cancel tours, and so on.

I blame stump-microphones, close up, super slow motion cameras, and over-zealous cricket officials with nothing better to do, for making it impossible to live by the old addage of - "what goes on, on the field, stays on the field". These days nothing is allowed to go on, on the field, and if it does the administrators and media make damn sure it doesn't stay there.

I think every "incident" this summer should've been solved with a few sharp "Get F!@#$@#;d", followed by a "No you Get F!@#$@#;d" - then a beer after the game. Enough said. This culture is being legislated out of the game.

In search of a scapegoat

In their quest to lay blame on anything other than their own inability to cope with the pressure, India are at it again with their smoke and mirrors diversionary tactics, blaming their own on-field transgressions on who else, but those big bad bullying Australians.

Heaven help us if this young Indian side ever lives up to it's potential. Should it's on field power ever match it's off field power, we could see the real ruin of the game.

Suffice to say, Harbhajan's antics, Pathan's send of, Dhoni's cheating wicket keeping gloves don't get a mention - it's all Andrew Symonds fault - yet still, they are paying him 1.4 million for a few hit and giggle Twenty20 games...

If Sri Lanka can win it's last two ODIs this week, India will go home hopelessly empty handed from this summer where they came to fight fire with fire...who will be to blame then I wonder - oh yeh - Andrew Symonds.

Biggest One Day victory ever?

Oh dear!

Questions must be asked after this result - can South Africa's opening bowler (Danesha Devnarain) retain her spot, after being so expensive...and why did it take so long to bring Sunette Loubser into the attack!

Standing Ovation...

India just beat Australia at the MCG, for the first time since 1986. They did so because they played brilliant one day cricket. The Australian's batted like millionaires and didn't seem interested in steadying the ship when early wickets fell.

Like always, Australia never gave up in the field, but India, under pressure, did what Australia didn't - they slowed down, stuck to their plan (to make 160) and who cares how slow they did it, but you can't do it from inside the dressing room. They bought their best game - Australia didn't - no big deal.

What was a big deal though, was what Tendulkar did to Lee in that third (or there abouts) over. The cover drive, and the on drive...sublime! I could watch them over and over. Can't find them on YouTube yet, but surely it's only a matter of time.

Are we all getting a bit too precious

I've been thinking more about all this India v Australia controversy and I'm starting to wonder, are we just getting a bit too precious?

After years of complaints about the behaviour of Australians on the field, it seems that as soon as we are given cause to complain back, we are jumping at it. Like some childish form of, "if you can whinge, so can we".

I think the "racial vilification" card is played, simply because it's there. Andrew Symonds has been called worse the "monkey" in his time.

What we are seeing now is just a competition to see who can take the highest moral stand.

We like to say, "this wouldn't have happened 20 years ago". But why not? Because back in the 70s and 80s, the likes of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Ian Chappell, Richard Hadllee, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Clive Lloyd, whoever, if you were called a monkey, you'd turn around  a say, "F!@# you" and it would be done with.

That response seems to have been legislated out of the game.

We used to say "what goes on, on the field, stay's on the field" - but all these rules and regulations are simply dragging it off the field.

Maybe relaxing these rules a bit, and letting grown, competitive men, sort things out for themselves, will actually foster a bit of respect. Sure, a clash or two, but aren't we seeing that anyway. Surely one incident where players clash and "have it out" on the field, is not as bad for the game as endless discipline hearings, appeals, press reports, etc. Is the way we are currently handling all this nonsense any better than the days of Lillee vs Miandad, or "Hadlee's a wanker"? I don't think so.