Shaking Ponting's tree
In the Sydney Morning Herald , Peter Roebuck defends his column from earlier this week in which he called for Ricky Ponting's sacking.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck defends his column from earlier this week in which he called for Ricky Ponting's sacking.
Time to shake the tree. Sacking the captain was the only story remotely dramatic enough to bring everything out into the open. And so the article was written. It had almost been sent earlier in the match but a fever had taken hold and the thought occurred that mood might have been affected. But the point was valid. The leadership had failed.
And so the debate began. And so Australia set about reclaiming its cricket team. Of course the players were angry, even shocked. Some of the column was too forceful. The comparison with wild dogs was unfair. Just that I have six dogs in Africa, likeable canines until they form a hunting pack. The reaction was startling, phones ringing, offers of money to go on television, threats, compliments. But the journalist is not the story. A nerve had been touched and the important matters were going to be addressed.
Peter Lalor writes in the Australian that the lack of understanding between India and Australia is symptomatic of something bigger and continues a pattern that needs examining.
The Indian argument goes like this: monkey is not offensive, bastard is. The Australian argument goes like this: bastard is not offensive, monkey is. It is a small symptom of a much larger cultural misunderstanding. And then there is the apparently larger issue of the match referee not believing Sachin Tendulkar's account of the monkey slur. To be honest, if the Little Master says it wasn't said, I'm inclined to believe him. He's a man of the highest integrity. Of course, there is the possibility that Sachin didn't hear it as opposed to it not being said. Still, there is another nagging sense of deja vu about the indignation of the Indian team.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here