[This pic has been used by most of the dailies so I'll just acknowledge the Independent and move to the post.] Sportsmanship.
What does it mean? In a game which has been a byword for sportsmanship for so long and the spawner of that remonstrance 'it's just not cricket', Ponting's words were restrained:
I'm not saying any of this changed the result – they were only brief interruptions, and I don't want to make too big a deal of them. But they were such visible incidents that I'm sure others will be taking these issues up with the England management.
The Telegraph took those words and made a headline: 'Ponting hits out at England'. No he didn't - he mentioned some things, that's all. I don't particularly like a lot of what Ponting has done over the years but I equally don't like the beat-up in the Telegraph.
The trouble with the concept of sportsmanship is that at the top level, the game is so competitive and there is a lot riding on the result. Even at junior level, it was always interesting the way we'd take teams to schools which shouted 'sportsmanship' from the rooftop but in the actual game, all sorts of little advantages were allowed to them but if one even looked askance at a strange decision, 'sportsmanship' was the repost.
It reminded me of Terry Gilliam's Brazil where Big Brother was constantly referring, in his broadcasts, to 'playing the game', in his attempts to have Tuttle caught or turned in.
If you're going to play a game for sportsmanship, fine - let's have independent umpires and nothing riding on the result. But if we are playing a game to win, then within the rules, let's go all out to win and not be so hypocritical as to accuse the opposition of not displaying sportsmanship. You can't have it both ways.
Unfortunately, cricket is a game which, like tennis and its line calls, lends itself to controversy, not least with the LBW rule. And how much time wasting should be allowed on the field when one side is playing for a draw? I've seen the Australians do it many times, particularly under Ian Chappell but this is our turn now.
I didn't notice but were the umpires ours?
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Long gone are the days when honour and sportsmanship were part of each player.
ReplyDeleteNobody falls on their sword or concedes points any more it's all pushing to win.
It's a reflection on our society and its not showing a very good one.
It's a reflection on media pressure, broadcast rights and over the top media build up and nationalism. It's no longer a game, it's a battle. This is why sports have become so crazy in this manner. I don't think either side can claim any saintliness.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day I enjoyed a thrilling day's cricket and was pleased to see England still in it and not a whitewash of the game for the whole Summer.
That's exactly why I hate sport. Goodness, cricket takes long enough without time wasting on the field!
ReplyDeleteSo, we're agreed then.
ReplyDeleteSportsmanship in a major competition of anything (including chess) is like a strong moral compass of any given politician - it's there when it's handy, but rarely used in the crunch!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love sports! Especially American baseball and tennis (before the Williams sisters.... are they gone yet? I give them their due; they are just that good, but I'd like some actual competition in the game back. Think Steffie would consider a comeback?)
Oh I hate cricket and tennis and football - simply because I refuse to believe the media reports that all grown men partaking in kicking/hitting/chasing/capturing a ball are all recognised and classified as "heroes"
ReplyDeletePah I suggest the we use the example of the the 1969 war between El Salvador and Honduras and consider Ponting's words a declaration of war. I say that the Royal Navy should send gunboats to Botany Bay and Van Diemen's Land and... ach I really can't give a fig about cricket. What sort of game is it when you can play for five days and still end up with a draw?
ReplyDeleteI love cricket because you can park yourself out near the boundary, take in the sunny day and nature, have a drink every so often and a spot of lunch.
ReplyDeleteIt's why I always preferred the Anglican service over the happy clapping Methos - the Methos might have given you drinks and bikkies later but the Anglican service allowed you a snooze in the back pews, especially if the sermon was 40 minutes.
"There's a breathless hush in the close tonight"
ReplyDeleteetc etc
You all know the rest.
Those were the days, eh?
Cricket is cool. Our men are cool. The media and public perception of sportsmen through same? Not so much. A pox on media. For so many reasons.
ReplyDeleteJames fyi they don't have home umpires anymore so last match was Billy Doctrove (West Indies I think...) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan). As opposed to everyone else commenting I rather like Cricket- I loved the way that in the 2005 Ashes for example Vaughan's captaincy and innovative fields were part of the victory. The game is so psychological- partly because it is so long so weaknesses are ruthlessly exposed (KP can't graft an innings for example!) and its a mental battle between batsman and bowler and captain. The field placings are about tempting particular shots- which if they go right score runs and if they go wrong... or about making someone so frustrated that they do something silly.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you there. I remember one match in Australia, a Test, where nothing occurred for thirty minutes - no runs, no anything and yet it had to have been one of the most enthralling battles between spinners and batsman I've seen.
ReplyDelete