Anyone for Cricket

devans

Mentor
Joined
Jul 7, 2005
Messages
729
Location
Outside North America
Cricket in played in many countries by many races and sometimes things can kick off!
Things have turned a bit nasty over in Australia at the moment.
Racism row
 

jaxvid

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Messages
7,247
Location
Michigan
Funny story. The player who was suspended was Indian and he alledgedly insulted a mix raced Australian with the dreaded "racial slur." Which resulted in a 3 game suspension. However the Indians are appealing saying that he actually used a native word that sounds similar but instead is an extremely offensive insult to one's mother. Insulting someones mother is not a punishable offense.

Isn't the NWO grand? Remember the days when an insult to your mother was the worst thing a guy could say to you. Now it's an insult to your race.
smiley5.gif
I also remember when "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me" was used in place of suspensions, firings, controversy, and jail time.
 

Matra1

Mentor
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
527
Location
Outside North America
I'm a cricket fan. What concerned me about this was the decision made by the referee without any proof. Yes, the Indian nation behaved in an hysterical manner but if a player can be suspended for making a racial remark even though there's no proof of it that opens up the door to all kinds of abuse. I can see false accusations of racism being made against white teams like Australia.

Incidentally, in India racial insults are not as serious as comments about family members. I'm told that saying "your brother-in-law cleans toilets" is the most hideous insult in some areas.
 

Don Wassall

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
30,319
Location
Pennsylvania
The writer of this article believes (advocates) that cricket must be increasingly Asian dominated if England is to be competitive internationally:


English Cricket - an Asian future?
<DIV =clearfix id=article->


On the day when a new Cricket 'Champions League' involving teams from England, India, Australia and South Africa and played out in front of Middle Eastern and Asian fanaticshas been revealed, I find myself asking what future English cricket has. A game that was born in the green pastures of thebeautiful, quaint British Isles, a game which used to pride itself on being a thinking man's game, a game of tactics and intrigue played out over 5 long but often captivating days has evolved drastically over the last decade.


Even before the inaugural ICL and IPL Twenty-20 tournaments, the spotlights, dancing, music and fireworks, the orange balls and the pyjama kits, it was clear that something needed to give if cricket was to stop losing its followers to the more immediate thrill that other sports offer spectators. Sir Allen Stanford cottoned onto this quicklyand has consequently created a hugely popular and almost certainly profitable business model in the shape of his Caribbean tournament and it seems as if the ECB has also seen sense and wants a slice of the pie. I'm sure that David Collier and co. have surreptitously been watching events unfold on the Asian continent over the past few weeks and have winced. Why didn't they think of this concept? Why have they been slow on the uptake?


It is all the more puzzling that the English, thecreatorsandfor so long forebearers of cricket have not sought to adapt and innovate moreto keep up with the field, especially in view of theriseof many talented and hugelypromising Asian youngsters. What better way to promote the gameand expandthe audienceamongst the UK's large Asian community than to let theseyoungsters strut their stuff on a more dynamic and visible stage than thatthe LV County Championship or FPTcurrently offers? What better way to let other promisingyoungsters find their way in the game?


If you look around England and cherrypick the creme de la creme of these young players that are Asian by originplying their trade on thecounty scene, you couldform a team that wouldcompete with any current England international team.Mostcounty executives and coaches would drool ata team such as the following taking the field:


Varun Chopra, Vikram Solanki, Usman Afzaal, Samit Patel, Ravinder Bopara, Bilal Shafayat, Adil Rashid, Ishmail Dawood (not on county scene currently but promised much), Sajid Mahmood,Nayan Doshi, Naqqash Tahir


4of the above are full internationals and I'd be surprised if Chopra, Patel andRashid didn't make the grade sooninone format or another. With many youngsters falling out of the game because of the lack of chances due to the influx ofbig-name overseas stars and the because of the controversial Kolpak ruling, it is essential that we give these youngsters a real chance to 'make it' and propel the nation forward to compete with the Australians, Indians and other nations that continue toexcel whilst standards in the Englishgamecontinue to drop or, at best, stagnate.


Being a university cricketer myself, I think Ican prove this from the (lack of quality) evident in the student game over the last few years. Any youngster that shows an inkling of talent is snapped up by a county andpaid a minimal wage, just to rot in their 2nd XIor academy. It's about time the ECBbrought in measures to prevent this from happening and toencourage youngsters to takeup the game and strive to earn a good living from it.In five years time,I'd expect England to take the field with a stronger Asian-born contingency as I feel that this is our best (and possibly only) chance of contiuned success.


[url]http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/28016-English-Cricket ---an-Asian-future--070608[/url]
 

Matra1

Mentor
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
527
Location
Outside North America
The writer of this article believes (advocates) that cricket must be increasingly Asian dominated if England is to be competitive internationally

Asian cricket fans in England almost all cheer for the country of their ancestors. (Google 'Norman Tebbitt, cricket test') When ex-England captain Nasser Hussein walked out to bat in a charity match in England in front of a mostly Asian crowd he was roundly booed. Asians in England must have seen him as a traitor. I imagine any truly great English-born Asian cricketers would find a way to play for India, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka instead of England.

England has declined as a cricketing power in recent decades - no doubt about it. But I wonder, even with fewer whites wanting to play the game, how good an Asian dominated England team would be. After all India with a billion people can't compete with white Australia, a country of only 18 million. South Africa, a country where the sport is mostly played by the country's diminishing white population has been better than India, and for the most part Pakistan, over the last decade and a half since they were allowed back into international competition.

The all-white New Zealand cricket team has had a decent international record over the past 30 years despite only having 4 million people and rugby being the national passion. It's no pushover for the Asian countries.

England won't become the dominant power just because it puts extra effort into developing its Asian players and having a team full of Asians might just kill the sport with the English public. Better to win the occasional big series with an average team the English nation identifies with than to risk losing the Englishness of the sport altogether.
 
Top