The day I finally broke up

March 24th 2018

Today is a dark day for Australian cricket - Steve Smith admits to aiding/abetting ball tampering in the third test against South Africa.

For a long time now, I have been a fan of the Australian cricket team. I do not know why/how it started. Maybe I was fascinated by the Australian sport culture. Maybe my child brain was just fascinated by the then champions of world cricket. Regardless, my brain had been wired to like them and even after their sporting success declined, I have always wanted them to compete and win.

Yes, I supported them, even been willing to ignore/rationalize the persistent sledging. Here's a diary note I made about 2 years ago on the anniversary of Philip Hughes' death.

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This post is about sledging, boorish behavior and general unsportsmanlike conduct that is now regularly stereotyped with an Aussie cricketer and as a consequence opposition fans regularly belittle their achievements and call them cheats. I am a quiet person who likes to go about my business and sledging or any sort of banter is not within my persona. I come from a pretty non-confrontational culture and as a result frequently cringe when I see boorish behavior on the field, in particular from the Aussies. The Aussies, more so because I am a hardwired diehard fan of Australian sport in general. I suppose it is down to them being a sporting nation and me fantasizing about what I cannot have or be. Regardless, the point is that I am a fan and I cringe when Australian cricketers open their mouth on the field. That is more so because I am afraid of the criticism that is going to come their way in the following days. As any fan would do, I try to deny, rationalize or justify their behavior or actions or words. Yet, I am no fan of sledging. Maybe hypocritical, but that's being human.

In any case, I do not think that sledging or unsportsmanlike conduct is a preserve of the Aussies alone. However, they seem to be in the thick of things more often than not. That's possibly a consequence of increased media scrutiny, coverage and analysis coinciding with Australia being the best team on the planet, and as a consequence their actions on the field get analyzed more. That may have played a role in creating an impression on fans that Aussies are boorish, but opposition players have similar opinions as well. It is possibly a cultural difference where players from traditional non-confrontational sporting ethos do not understand the "hard on the field in all respects and sharing a beer and laughing about the confrontation when off the field" culture of the Aussies (I have only read about this and haven't experienced such a culture. However, from the words of current and former Aussie players, I gather, this to be the case). In any case, culture is something that has to evolve and since it is obvious that the rest of the world do not like the culture of on-field banter it is time Australian cricket did something about it. In wake of Phil Hughes' death they seem to have realized that and seem to be making a genuine effort to change. Let us hope it is not a false dawn.

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I had thought, then, that one of the catalysts for the change would be Steve Smith. My impression of him, since I first saw his fielding exploits in the IPL, was extremely positive - the boyish face, the effort he put on the field despite being a persistently mocked bits-and-pieces cricketer, and then later his transformation to world's number one test batsman. I admired his determination and focus, his ability to shut out his naysayers and mockers and find a way to succeed as a test batsman. He clearly appeared as a genuine bloke, one who valued action more than words, who didn't really need to sledge to get pumped up and perform (unlike some other Australian cricketers). When he was made captain I had hoped he would remake the Australian team into that image I had of him. Finally, someone who could break down the boorish, sledger, cheater stereotype associated with Australian cricketers.

While there were moments in the last 2 years where that image I had of him was strained, such as the "Bangalore brain fade", or the Warner - de Kock stairwell incident (which was a culmination  of a series of events that indicated a passive/active support from the captain to get as close to the undefinable "line" as possible without getting demerit points for sledging), I still believed he would gradually lead the team to positive change.

Until today!!!

Today is the day I finally broke up from my 20+ years of fascination with Australian cricket.

I need to clarify this at least now!!!

I haven't been blogging for quite some time now. I was busy with my MS applications. Something has been building up inside me for a few days now and I just had to write it down. I did that today afternoon and thus this post. Probably after this post I may once again go into blog hibernation, at least till mid January. Anyways, enjoy reading and post your comments.

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People have asked me, many times over, why am I a fan of Australia? They have asked me, when India plays Australia, who do I support? My answer, "Australia at times; India at times", stumps many and there are people who have called me unpatriotic. But honestly, I don't think so.

More than the fact that they win matches and have been a champion team for so long, the reason I like Australia is their sports system, not just cricket but any sport you want to play. Being a sportsman is not looked at as a silly ambition for a kid and the administration handling sporting talent is to a reasonable extent dedicated to that cause. Too much politics does not come into the picture. People like Gill (in Indian Hockey) are nowhere to be seen. And it is that trust in the sporting system that makes me support the nation's sporting endeavours, even outside cricket.

Coming to cricket, since the topic is hot now, given Gilly's contoversial autobiography and the current India Australia series, I don't expect Australia to win every series, every World Cup. I actually want Australia to lose the Nagpur Test and be humiliated in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2008 with a 2-nil drubbing.

Because, now is a transition phase of Australian cricket. After a string of retirements, every team is unsettled and unbalanced and has to go for a phase of exprimentation for a couple of years or more, to regain that same composed and confident outlook in their team composition. What was happening for the last two series or so was that even with second string (compared to the erstwhile Oz outfit), experimental outfits they were winning matches, just because the opposition had an inherent fear of Australia and not completely on their on merit. Such a situation would lead to a complacent nature where-in you tend to believe you can win without working too hard, and Oz were in danger of tipping over. Well, till now anyway. Now there's India to humiliate them, to make them realise they need to keep experimenting.

It was such experimentation that gave them Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor, Glenn Mc Grath, the Waugh brothers and the list goes on. To find champions you have to be bold enough to take risks. And you don't do that if there is no team out there challenging your supremacy. Every team has to go through such experimentation at some stage or another and many have succeeded. The only thing is that in the Australian system of sporting there is a greater guarantee that this phase of trial and error will not last forever.

It may not be the perfect system. They might not be able to get out of the current rut. But there is still a greater probability that things will work out just fine compared to the other alternative sports system, the one rooted in romanticism and though it has been successful in bringing out a few exceptional greats, plenty of heartbreaks have also gone unnoticed.

Yes, I am talking about India. India, the land of stories. We Indians love drama and when sportsmen rise from obscurity, challenging the environment around them, we adore them. Where was Dhoni five years back and where is he now? That's the most recent example of India's success in producing champions in a manner that Shakespeare would love to indulge upon. The only problem is that for a youngster dreaming of something other than cricket, heartbreak is what he more often sees. And for even those who dream about cricket, sometimes, societal pressure (and the insistence on an engineering education and IT jobs) tend to flush these dreams down the drain.

The method may keep succeeding, for it is rooted in human emotion and not rules and bylaws. This gives the people an uncanny power to dream, challenge all odds and when they come out successful, they will be people who can handle any kind of pressure that professional sport puts on them. Well, those who are baby fed tend to become whiners. But, I still think any youngster, hoping to make it big, would love to be groomed in Australia, for, hard work though it may be, societal pressure is one thing they wouldn't have to worry about. That is why I want the sports administration in India to develop into a suitable mix of the two systems and when it does, when it retains its charm but still becomes more dependable, then there's no team I would cheer for, irrespective of sport, but INDIA. So strictly speaking as of now, I want Australia to win at times, sometimes even against India, so that I can retain the belief that their system is successful, and I want India to win at times, so that I can enjoy the charm the rise of a sportstar here offers. How can that dream be unpatriotic?

Michael Fred Phelps

With an unprecedented 13 Olympics Gold Medals, the tag - the greatest Olympian of all time, irrespective of sport - will not be a misfit on the Baltimore Bullet. Maybe technology has its say, maybe Speedo is the undisputed king in making record breaking swimsuits, maybe a scientific training regime has its benefits, but in Beijing 2008 with 7/7 Golds, 6/7 World Records and an Olympic Record in the 100m butterfly ( and yet this statistics might still change after the relay on Sunday), the question of human ability and endurance certainly has to be raised.

Is Phelps physically superior to any of his challengers? Well, according to Spitz, another legend of his own time, there is nothing about Phelps in his physique that sets him apart from his competitors. Yes, he has a frame ideal for swimming, but so do many others. What makes him special is his single minded, dogged determination. Considering he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was kid, the discipline which he has been able to train himself into is commendable and by discipline I mean the mental one. In front of the pool, in his mind, he knows he rules, he knows to what extent he should push himself and more importantly, he knows how to win even before leaping into the pool. Have you seen the composure on his face before any race, the calmness, the sense of detachment? Even the sight of such confidence is enough to force all opponents into an unconditional surrender.

Prior to Beijing 2008, I had a list of three people who's determination and performance in sports had made a significant impact on how I see myself - Adam Gilchrist, Lance Armstrong and Brett Lee, all for different reasons. Now Phelps has demonstrated to me the actual power of mind over matter.

Kudos to Phelps, Congrats to Bindra, Chinese determination - simply awesome and as a feast of technology and human performance, Beijing 2008 scores over the rest.

Australian Cricket

Irrespective of how much flak the Australian Cricket team has drawn from the self proposed enforcers of cricketing spirit and passionate supporters of sides finishing a close second, the fact still remains that Australia has been a champion side. This is a fact that no one can deny. After all, records can’t lie.

Unless of course, it is lamented that, complaints of irresponsible on field and off field behaviour are dusted under the carpet, and never really brought into public scrutiny. This argument hardly counts because professional sportsmen are after all human and mistakes are inevitable. The argument of a sportsman being morally irresponsible should never be mixed with any sporting debates, because organised sport is essentially a device to tame man’s wild and violent impulses to initiate and indoctrinate the spectators and the players into the complex web of obligations that live at the heart of the rule of law, taking from the words of Bartlett Giamatti. Thus, one shouldn’t expect a cricketer to be the perfect citizen, the perfect role model. That does not go on to say that cricketers should not try incorporating perfection into their behaviour too.

Once a match starts, the only thing running through a professional cricketer’s mind would be to deliver his best and to help his side win the game. He also has to have a sportsman spirit that acknowledges that the other side also wishes to win. Basically he should play hard but fair - an argument put forth explaining Australia’s some what rude and un-sportsman-like behaviour at times. This does not justify their actions but what one has to understand is that the human memory has a tendency to be short lived.

Take a champion side that has been winning consistently, without losing for a few months or so continuously, so much that winning has become a habit. Losing a habit is difficult and even the most grown up person tends to become childish. Sometimes they tend to do anything to protect the habit. Yes, winning does sometimes make you “high”.

It is because of this tendency that people have a tendency to label a champion as an arrogant brat. This does not justify the champion’s actions but the labelling and criticism is over the board. It would be easy to label the Australian cricketers as arrogant but it would also be unfair saying that they lack a sportsman spirit and can’t handle defeat. The current side has displayed impeccable resilience and a great spirit even in the face of defeat. There have been times when they rise to the top, become arrogant slightly, then lose, initially finding it hard to accept and then be like a bear with a sore head.

But it is in this situation, when the chips are down, when there is an understanding that there are people who dislike you that the Australian side has planned well, focussed hard and come out on top. And the cycle continues. It is not the fact that the win consistently, that makes Australia a champion side, it is the ability they have shown to win in hard situations that have given them the label. One should respect them for this and appreciate the fact that other teams are inspired to play harder at least to revel in the moment of victory over the Australian side. Setting all behavioural debate aside, the hard hitting batsmen, resilient defence, and spitfire bowling have only added to the beauty of the game.

The musings of an Oz fan

The Oz juggernaut was soaring through the clouds, the fighter carrying eleven, all integral to the success of the mission, all playing a role in demolishing the opposition, operating various controls of this highly advanced jet, a testament to the Oz way of life, their patience, their perseverance and the power that most tend to under estimate, the power of the mind.

The juggernaut was soaring, its bullets tearing through the opposition, demolishing every enemy plane in sight. And then, it struck. God!!! It was a stray bullet and that too from that English jet plummetting downwards losing control. "It has hit the fuselage. I am losing control.We are going into a spin.", announced the captain. Just as they started skyrocketing towards the ground, through the corner of their eyes they could see the English jet regaining control and to rub salt into the Oz wounds they started a rapid fire destroying the starboard engine, the sudden shock injuring the captain.

Not causing any more damage, obeying commands from the their command, the British jet didn't go for the kill and left this dirty job to their Kiwi counterparts. With the Oz juggernaut being taken over by the co pilot, who too could not regain control over the jet, the Kiwi fire was just too much. The jet burst into flames and crashed into the snow capped hills of the Kiwi wilderness.

Fortunately, the casualties were few. The Juggernaut's key operator, the one who controlled the Spitfire, the juggernaut's most powerful weapon, the gun that shot six continuous rounds of 150kph+ bullets right at the soft spots of the enemy jets, was out, injured and thus could certainly not feature in the next and most important battle of all jet fleets in the world.

The juggernaut on a high, had a soft spot and it was that soft spot, when suddenly hit by a stray bullet destroyed the jet completely. But that's good news for the Ozzies actually. Now they have time to re invent, closing down the chinks, come back witha better jet, in time for the ultimate battle.

The captain is back and so is his Vice, the destroyer at the top, flying the jet at such high bursts of speed thta no oppsition missile can touch the plabne later, popularly known as Gilly, the one pair of hands who can single handedly destroy any jet.

The Juggernaut has now a point to prove. they may be down but never out. It's them that we have to watch out for in the Mother Of all Battles.