> Haven't seen Ponting smiling much during the current tour.
> To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are always > animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the point, which > is > that they should judge themselves by their own standards, not against the > lowest common denominator elsewhere.
That's fair enough, though they haven't descended to the sort of behaviour that we had at the Wanderers a few year agos - with yobs spitting at Australian players as they walked off the field. They also managed to douse Steve Waugh with beer.
======================================
only complaint was that it was crap NZ beer which obviously even the "fan" couldn't stomach
> > ENGLAND has pleaded with its drunken fans to behave themselves and stop the > > ugly taunting and jeering of Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting.
> > Even Barmy Army bosses say the incessant booing of Ponting during the Ashes > > has been "out of order" and now England and Wales Cricket Board bosses are > > taking stern action.
> > ECB chairman Giles Clarke has penned an open letter, in the official program > > for tomorrow's fourth Test at Headingley, demanding that fans lay off > > Ponting and the Australian team.
> > Mr Clarke writes that Ponting has "earned the respect and courtesy" of the > > crowd and that the game "may never see his like again".
> > Ponting, almost certainly on his last Ashes tour, has been booed and abused > > from Cardiff to Edgbaston and former Test opener Justin Langer has labelled > > fans a "disgrace".
> > "These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with most of them 50 kilos > > overweight making ridiculous comments," Langer fumed.
> > Ponting's frustrations at the crowd abuse may have bubbled over with an > > English newspaper reporting he kicked the dressingroom door after being > > dismissed by Graeme Swann's wonder ball at Edgbaston.
> Can't you all see that this is a piss-take? The English know that > Punter's hurting from the likelihood of losing two Ashes in England on > the trot. So of course they add insult to injury by emasculating him > and deeming that he can't handle the jandle. Not only is he a loser, > he's also a whining little bitch.
> A [ The day of the Chav is nigh upon us. ]
Nice try idiot. I'll let Ponting himself burn you.
But Ponting, writing in The Daily Telegraph, did not appear too concerned by the boos, which he said he was "half-expecting".
And he labelled the Barmy Army, the much criticised and vocal England supporters group as "the best sporting crowd in the world".
"There is never anything untoward," Ponting said.
"It is always good, light-hearted stuff, and when England have a sniff of winning the volume goes up tenfold.
"They add a lot to the whole experience of the Ashes.
> > > ENGLAND has pleaded with its drunken fans to behave themselves and stop the > > > ugly taunting and jeering of Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting.
> > > Even Barmy Army bosses say the incessant booing of Ponting during the Ashes > > > has been "out of order" and now England and Wales Cricket Board bosses are > > > taking stern action.
> > > ECB chairman Giles Clarke has penned an open letter, in the official program > > > for tomorrow's fourth Test at Headingley, demanding that fans lay off > > > Ponting and the Australian team.
> > > Mr Clarke writes that Ponting has "earned the respect and courtesy" of the > > > crowd and that the game "may never see his like again".
> > > Ponting, almost certainly on his last Ashes tour, has been booed and abused > > > from Cardiff to Edgbaston and former Test opener Justin Langer has labelled > > > fans a "disgrace".
> > > "These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with most of them 50 kilos > > > overweight making ridiculous comments," Langer fumed.
> > > Ponting's frustrations at the crowd abuse may have bubbled over with an > > > English newspaper reporting he kicked the dressingroom door after being > > > dismissed by Graeme Swann's wonder ball at Edgbaston.
> > Can't you all see that this is a piss-take? The English know that > > Punter's hurting from the likelihood of losing two Ashes in England on > > the trot. So of course they add insult to injury by emasculating him > > and deeming that he can't handle the jandle. Not only is he a loser, > > he's also a whining little bitch.
> > A [ The day of the Chav is nigh upon us. ]
> Nice try idiot. I'll let Ponting himself burn you.
> But Ponting, writing in The Daily Telegraph, did not appear too > concerned by the boos, which he said he was "half-expecting".
> And he labelled the Barmy Army, the much criticised and vocal England > supporters group as "the best sporting crowd in the world".
> "There is never anything untoward," Ponting said.
> "It is always good, light-hearted stuff, and when England have a sniff > of winning the volume goes up tenfold.
> "They add a lot to the whole experience of the Ashes.
That proves rather than negates my point. I'm not the one calling Ponting a whining little bitch on this occasion. (Even if he is, albeit not for this.) It's the English press and Cricket establishment who are making the insinuation. The Sydney Telegraph has swallowed hook, line, and sinker.
It's clearly schoolyard mentality: the only thing worse than being the kid who had the shit kicked out of you is being the kid who has the shit kicked out of you, cries to your mother, who tells the headmaster, who tells the whole school to lay off. (Which then spirals into getting the shit kicked out of you for being the kid who complains to his mother.) Ponting may or may not have kicked the door in. By Langer (playing the protective friend warding off the bullies) complaining about it vocally and Clarke and the Barmy Army asking people to lay off, it makes it seem as though he can't handle it. The English have obviously learned about mental disintegration from somewhere ...
Ponting has done the smart thing by claiming he's ok with it all - it's damage control. The fact that this organ of Rupert Murdoch's has given this story any credence whatsoever doesn't help Ponting. The fact that this ever-balanced and reasonable Turner has even bothered to post this story (accompanied by dechucka's lucid and grammatically coherent comments) makes it seem as though some Australian fans seem to agree with the English and Langer; they also want to play the role of the friend protecting their former alcoholic and whining captain from schoolyard beatings.
As to your own misunderstanding of human psychology, the only adjective I can readily conjure is - how shall we put this politely - utterly retarded.
> Haven't seen Ponting smiling much during the current tour.
> To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are always > animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the point, which > is > that they should judge themselves by their own standards, not against the > lowest common denominator elsewhere.
That's fair enough, though they haven't descended to the sort of behaviour that we had at the Wanderers a few year agos - with yobs spitting at Australian players as they walked off the field. They also managed to douse Steve Waugh with beer.
But Langer's complaints are a bit rich. He's seen this kind of stuff before, but with teams other than Australia being on the receiving end, and he wasn't complaining then about overweight fans who'd had too much to drink.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Langer over the last few years has become a bit of tool, and i don't think there are too many who share many of his views. It will interesting to see if he plays for WA this summer http://tinyurl.com/myaqms.
Anyway, Ponting and Watson don't seem too fussed about the booing
> ENGLAND has pleaded with its drunken fans to behave themselves and stop > the > ugly taunting and jeering of Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting.
> On Aug 6, 2:34 am, "Andrew Dunford" <adunf...@artifax.net> wrote:
>> Haven't seen Ponting smiling much during the current tour.
>> To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are always >> animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the point, which >> is >> that they should judge themselves by their own standards, not against the >> lowest common denominator elsewhere.
> That's fair enough, though they haven't descended to the sort of > behaviour that we had at the Wanderers a few year agos - with yobs > spitting at Australian players as they walked off the field. They also > managed to douse Steve Waugh with beer.
> But Langer's complaints are a bit rich. He's seen this kind of stuff > before, but with teams other than Australia being on the receiving > end, and he wasn't complaining then about overweight fans who'd had > too much to drink.
To be fair to Langer, the disgrace here is the journalism, not the behaviour of fans.
The quote from Langer ("These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with most of them 50 kilos overweight making ridiculous comments") in the Daily Telegraph article reprinted by the OP is presented as though he made it in response to the current situation, where in fact he said it in December 2002:
>>>> > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into >>>> > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
>>>> Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting >>>> as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in >>>> Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans >>>> treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at >>>> all with what is happening in England.
>>> Watch Ponting have a big grin on his face though and the crowd will >>> love him for it.
>> Haven't seen Ponting smiling much during the current tour.
>> To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are always >> animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the point, which >> is that they should judge themselves by their own standards, not against >> the lowest common denominator elsewhere.
> Would that happen to be your own mob Andrew??
There's no need to bring my family into this.
> Iirc not to long ago crowds couldn't get their message across by just > verbally abusing players, they had to throw dangerous objects including > beer bottles and golf balls at players in an odi match.
It happens here and deserves condemnation when it does.
Like I said the first time, there's no need to run a competition to find the worst fans. England has a reputation for fair-minded cricket support which some fans seem to be trying to lose.
> > On Aug 6, 2:34 am, "Andrew Dunford" <adunf...@artifax.net> wrote:
> >> Haven't seen Ponting smiling much during the current tour.
> >> To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are always > >> animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the point, which > >> is > >> that they should judge themselves by their own standards, not against the > >> lowest common denominator elsewhere.
> > That's fair enough, though they haven't descended to the sort of > > behaviour that we had at the Wanderers a few year agos - with yobs > > spitting at Australian players as they walked off the field. They also > > managed to douse Steve Waugh with beer.
> > But Langer's complaints are a bit rich. He's seen this kind of stuff > > before, but with teams other than Australia being on the receiving > > end, and he wasn't complaining then about overweight fans who'd had > > too much to drink.
> To be fair to Langer, the disgrace here is the journalism, not the behaviour > of fans.
> The quote from Langer ("These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with > most of them 50 kilos overweight making ridiculous comments") in the Daily > Telegraph article reprinted by the OP is presented as though he made it in > response to the current situation, where in fact he said it in December > 2002:
> On Aug 5, 7:34 pm, "Dave -Turner" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote: >> >> "These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with most of them 50 >> kilos >> >> overweight making ridiculous comments," Langer fumed. >> >I don't think we need lessons in how to behave from the >> > likes of Langer.
>> rofl, what did Langer ever do that was so bad???
In article <fc9c6a4b-3375-4420-92a0-fe6b89818...@f37g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, Bob Dubery <megap...@gmail.com> writes:
>On Aug 5, 6:00 pm, "Dave -Turner" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote: >> > It's a bit rich.
>> The ECB and the heads of the Barmy Army disagree.
>They're not the hypocrites here. Though to be fair the only Australian >identifiable as a whinger here is Langer. He's certainly seen all this >before but didn't get on his high horse until Oz were on the receiving >end.
To be fair, one of the few things that he doesn't seem to have complained about is the abuse. -- John Hall "Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now." Anon
In article <7dumr7F2e087...@mid.individual.net>, Andrew Dunford <adunf...@artifax.net> writes:
>To me the English justifications of "your crowds in Australia are >always animals so it's ok for ours to be so too" rather misses the >point, which is that they should judge themselves by their own >standards, not against the lowest common denominator elsewhere.
Agreed. -- John Hall "Hard work often pays off after time, but laziness always pays off now." Anon
> > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into > > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
> Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting > as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in > Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans > treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at > all with what is happening in England.
> ========
> crap, next
Seems like you don't attend Test matches in Australia.
On Aug 6, 4:05 pm, Dipak Jones <dipak.jo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 6, 8:06 am, Jellore <jell...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> > On Aug 6, 4:20 am, Maxx <sc...@executivemail.co.za> wrote:
> > > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into > > > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
> > Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting > > as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in > > Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans > > treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at > > all with what is happening in England.
> Wouldn't it be better to raise the standards rather than have a > childish tit for tat?
Get real, this is international, competitive sport for goodness sake. Sounds like you blokes want it to be akin to the church fete.
>> > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into >> > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
>> Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting >> as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in >> Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans >> treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at >> all with what is happening in England.
>> ========
>> crap, next
> Seems like you don't attend Test matches in Australia.
I have attended plenty and the behavior is nowhere what you imply
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4311 (20090806) __________
On Aug 6, 10:37 am, "Andrew Dunford" <adunf...@artifax.net> wrote:
> To be fair to Langer, the disgrace here is the journalism, not the behaviour > of fans.
> The quote from Langer ("These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with > most of them 50 kilos overweight making ridiculous comments") in the Daily > Telegraph article reprinted by the OP is presented as though he made it in > response to the current situation, where in fact he said it in December > 2002:
> I don't know who Ben Dorries is, but he shouldn't be allowed near a > newspaper in a hurry.
That is really very poor journalism.
I still have the same reservations about Langer though. He's been part of a team that used insults and adverse comment as part of their game plan, and he's played in plenty of matches where the visting team have copped verbals from an Australian crowd. He only seems to think it a problem when it's Australia on the receiving end.
> On Aug 6, 4:05 pm, Dipak Jones <dipak.jo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Aug 6, 8:06 am, Jellore <jell...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> > > On Aug 6, 4:20 am, Maxx <sc...@executivemail.co.za> wrote:
> > > > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into > > > > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
> > > Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting > > > as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in > > > Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans > > > treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at > > > all with what is happening in England.
> > Wouldn't it be better to raise the standards rather than have a > > childish tit for tat?
> Get real, this is international, competitive sport for goodness sake.
Spectating is an international, competitive sport? When is it making its Olympic debut?
> Sounds like you blokes want it to be akin to the church fete.
Would that not be preferable to a visitor being booed by thousands for making a minor and justifiable criticism of his opponents? It is a shame that the English characteristic of 'fair play' appears to have gone.
On Thu, 6 Aug 2009 09:54:38 +0100, John Hall <nospam_no...@jhall.co.uk> tapped the keyboard and brought forth:
>In article ><fc9c6a4b-3375-4420-92a0-fe6b89818...@f37g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, > Bob Dubery <megap...@gmail.com> writes: >>On Aug 5, 6:00 pm, "Dave -Turner" <ad...@127.0.0.1> wrote: >>> > It's a bit rich.
>>> The ECB and the heads of the Barmy Army disagree.
>>They're not the hypocrites here. Though to be fair the only Australian >>identifiable as a whinger here is Langer. He's certainly seen all this >>before but didn't get on his high horse until Oz were on the receiving >>end.
>To be fair, one of the few things that he doesn't seem to have >complained about is the abuse.
I don't think I heard any actual booing of Ponting in the Lord's Pavilion during the Test. But nor did I hear any tut-tutting about the booing from the public stands. When he was bowled in the second innings, those near where I was sitting almost to a man (and occasional woman) said, with extreme relish, something like "Aren't you going to question the umpire about *that* decision?"
Not many MCC Members felt like showing much respect to the hypocritical serial whinger, challenger of umpires and proclaimer of a version of the spirit of the game which says that Australians never offend against it but everyone else does.
Great batsman he may be, but as a captain - and captains are supposed to set the example in behaviour - he is right down at the bottom of the barrel.
>Would that not be preferable to a visitor being booed by thousands for >making a minor and justifiable criticism of his opponents? It is a >shame that the English characteristic of 'fair play' appears to have >gone.
If it were just the one incident, then you might have a point. But Ponting whinged throughout the 2005 Ashes, and has been seen to challenge the umpires on almost every contentious decision even after it's been referred to the bloke with the TV, and then has the gall to complain about other people violating the spirit of the game. A lot of English fans are just fed up to the back teeth with the sanctimonious hypocrisy which emanates from Ponting.
> > ENGLAND has pleaded with its drunken fans to behave themselves and stop > > the > > ugly taunting and jeering of Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting.
> Thats a dog whistle if ever I've heard one.
Exactly my thoughts too.
Ricky Ponting is an obnoxious little shit, but he is a very good batsmen and a *very* competitive person. Ricky Ponting the batsmen would rise to produce his best in response to a hostile crowd. Not sure about Ricky Ponting the captain or the rest of the team for that matter though.
On Aug 6, 8:06 am, Jellore <jell...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> On Aug 6, 4:20 am, Maxx <sc...@executivemail.co.za> wrote:
> > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into > > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
> Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting > as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in > Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans > treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at > all with what is happening in England.
But what you forget is that in Australia, SAF players were called kaffir boetjies by SA expats, Panesar was abused for being an Indian because, well, he is and people shout 'No ball' at Murali everytime he bowls because, well, he chucks. And anyway, it was SA expats doing that too.
The abuse of Ponting is totally different. Here you have a guy who has dedicated his life to upholding the Spirit of the Gaem(tm), as have many other Australian cricketers in the past 20 years (eg Langer). They ought to be cheered and clapped every time they come to the crease, and the bowlers ought to give them a first over of dolly drops to allow them to get their eye in as a mark of respect.
> On Aug 6, 10:37 am, "Andrew Dunford" <adunf...@artifax.net> wrote:
> > To be fair to Langer, the disgrace here is the journalism, not the behaviour > > of fans.
> > The quote from Langer ("These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with > > most of them 50 kilos overweight making ridiculous comments") in the Daily > > Telegraph article reprinted by the OP is presented as though he made it in > > response to the current situation, where in fact he said it in December > > 2002:
> > I don't know who Ben Dorries is, but he shouldn't be allowed near a > > newspaper in a hurry.
> That is really very poor journalism.
> I still have the same reservations about Langer though. He's been part > of a team that used insults and adverse comment as part of their game > plan, and he's played in plenty of matches where the visting team have > copped verbals from an Australian crowd. He only seems to think it a > problem when it's Australia on the receiving end.
And speaking of poor journalism, let's not forget that Langer was the one who used his own newspaper column to attack Vaughan because he (Vaughan) had the temerity to not take his (Langer's) word over a catch in 2003(?), and then to pontificate loudly on the Spirit of the Gaem(tm), and inform everyone that Australians leave incidents like that on the field and have a beer with everyone after the game (gaem?)!
Yeah, right.
And all the while neglecting to mention that he (Langer) had refused to take the word of Imran when he (Langer) was 'caught' in almost identical circumstances the previous year. Obviously, Imran was a cheating Pakistani, who had no idea of the aforesaid Spirit of the Gaem(tm).
Australian cricketers, had they been so inclined, had an absolutely golden opportunity over the past 10-15 years to seize the moral high ground and actually show people what the Spirit of the Gaem(tm) is all about. Being the strongest team in the gaem, they could have shown some leadership. Instead, they squandered it on sledging, gamesmanship, sharp practice, mental disintegration and outright pettiness. Many of their supporters here echoed and supported those tactics. Heck, they would've won most of their games without resorting to those tactics.
So, to hear them squeal about other teams employing similar tactics, opposing crowds giving them a hard time and The Spirit of the Gaem(tm) tends to result in howls of laughter from almost all other cricket followers.
> > > ENGLAND has pleaded with its drunken fans to behave themselves and stop the > > > ugly taunting and jeering of Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting.
> > > Even Barmy Army bosses say the incessant booing of Ponting during the Ashes > > > has been "out of order" and now England and Wales Cricket Board bosses are > > > taking stern action.
> > > ECB chairman Giles Clarke has penned an open letter, in the official program > > > for tomorrow's fourth Test at Headingley, demanding that fans lay off > > > Ponting and the Australian team.
> > > Mr Clarke writes that Ponting has "earned the respect and courtesy" of the > > > crowd and that the game "may never see his like again".
> > > Ponting, almost certainly on his last Ashes tour, has been booed and abused > > > from Cardiff to Edgbaston and former Test opener Justin Langer has labelled > > > fans a "disgrace".
> > > "These people stand behind a fence drinking beer with most of them 50 kilos > > > overweight making ridiculous comments," Langer fumed.
> > Did Langer ever complain or even comment on overweight fans at > > Australian grounds drinking too much beer and making ridiculous > > comments?
> > For some years Australia have played cricket in a way that is > > calculated to put the opposition off their stroke. Visiting cricketers > > have been heckled, in one case food was even thrown at a visiting > > player fielding on the boundary.
> > Now an Australian player gets a booing and that's not on.
> > It's a bit rich.
> > What are they going to do next? Insist that the 12th man run ahead of > > Flintoff with a red flag when there's a bouncer coming?- Hide quoted text -
> Standard Australian Cricket mentality. Be a dickhead when you're > winning, and then put it all down to being in the spirit of the game > and having a laugh. Same thing happens to when you're losing and make > a hue and cry about it.
> A [ They used to call Hadlee a wanker, too. ]- Hide quoted text -
> - Show quoted text -
'Hadlee's a wanker, Hadlee's a wanker' (repeat ad infinitum).
Yes, a good one that. In the spirit of Yabba of The Hill, one of the all time great Australian singalongs, comprising of enough words to challenge those who've had one too many, but repeated often enough to give them the opportunity to pick it up after a while.
I guess it was a step up from 'C'mon Aussie C'mon' for ingenuity, musical variation and witty lyrics, but only just.
> >> > Well it aint gonna happen. The more they do it the more it turns into > >> > just a joke actually. All in good fun.
> >> Let us hope that the good folk of Leeds get stuck right into Ponting > >> as he makes his way to the middle. I have attended Test matches in > >> Australia every year since 1992, and generally speaking the fans > >> treatment of overseas players is disgraceful. I have no sympathy at > >> all with what is happening in England.
> >> ========
> >> crap, next
> > Seems like you don't attend Test matches in Australia.
> I have attended plenty and the behavior is nowhere what you imply
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4311 (20090806) __________
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
You are talking absolute nonsense. Australian "fans" are amongst the worst in the world, almost everyone accepts that, when it comes to niggling overseas players. When it happens to Australians they whinge and bellyache as if they should be immune to it. It is laughable.
> >Would that not be preferable to a visitor being booed by thousands for > >making a minor and justifiable criticism of his opponents? It is a > >shame that the English characteristic of 'fair play' appears to have > >gone.
> If it were just the one incident, then you might have a point. But > Ponting whinged throughout the 2005 Ashes, and has been seen to > challenge the umpires on almost every contentious decision even after > it's been referred to the bloke with the TV, and then has the gall to > complain about other people violating the spirit of the game. A lot of > English fans are just fed up to the back teeth with the sanctimonious > hypocrisy which emanates from Ponting.
My recollections of 2005 must have faded. You say that he 'whinged throughout the 2005 Ashes' whereas I can only recall his exchanges over the Gary Pratt incident. Can you remind me of his other whinges?
But even allowing for a lengthy list of Ponting whines, I believe that he's being harshly treated by English fans. This is because England traditionally believe themselves to be the upholders of fair play and to have that questioned, especially by an unlikeable Australian, has caused this overreaction. They should be addressing the issues first and not worrying about the perceived hypocrisy of the accuser. There was no doubt that the Cardiff time-wasting was badly orchestrated poor sportsmanship and that Ponting had a valid point, it was however a minor, incidental point that perhaps he shouldn't have made, but it was still a valid comment. The reaction by England has been disproportionate and inappropriate. That battle for position on the high moral ground has seen no-one close to winning it yet.
As to the future, I wonder if there is the possibility that the English crowds are killing their golden touring goose. If the English crowds behaviour on this tour is perceived as poor by 'Australia', could it transpire that the number of tickets made available to future Ashes games in Australia for tourists is reduced by the Australian Board? If I recall the last English tour was a sellout after Australia lost the Ashes, a likley event again this series, so the Australian Board may not have to rely, if they ever did, on sales to the English.
