Thursday, September 01, 2005

SPORTING SPIRIT?

The fourth test has gone in favour of England and for the first time in more than a decade and half the English are not going to lose the series, although the Ashes may not come their way. The unexpected revival of English cricket has coincided remarkably with the slide of the Aussies.

Ponting was not at all justified in his outbursts after he was run out by a substitute fieldsman. Now Glenn McGrath has added his thoughts to the issue. McGrath voiced in a radio interview that the fielding of substitutes by England was not in the 'sporting spirit'. Now, very few cricket watchers are unaware of the unsportsmanlike conduct of McGrath and many of his teammates.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and McGrath were involved in a verbal scrap in the historic run chase of the West Indies after the Aussie hurled some verbals at the West Indian. No one can forget the outburst of Michael Slater at Mumbai on the Aussie tour of 2001. Steve Waugh was quite renowned for his verbals. So what is the sporting spirit that McGrath is cribbing about?

When the Aussies are winning, the incidents are labelled 'mental disintegration' and their supporters call it 'playing the game the hard way'. But when the Aussies are at the receiving end, they are whining. Grow up, Glenn it is like the pot calling the kettle black.

1 comment:

Queasy Rider said...

Bobby, did you see Mick Jagger's comment about McGrath (in the quotes section on cricinfo)? Goes something like - "That Glenn McGrath...what a bastard". Funny.