Postcard (25 April 1999)

25 April 1999

Postcard

from Justin Langer

Debacle in Barbados a sad day for cricket

Skipper Steve Waugh pretty well summed up the overall feeling of the 1999 West Indian tour in his post-match interview with Michael Holding. By answering the question of how he had enjoyed the tour, he reflected that he has had a "reasonable time during the last 10 weeks in the Caribbean", but that "some very good cricket has been marred by a few incidents that are unsatisfactory from the players' point of view". Considering the Australian cricket captain is traditionally supposed to be as diplomatic as possible, I think 'Tugga' was being as tactful as could be expected in light of the events of the last few days.

From a player's eyes looking on, I was saddened to see the appalling behaviour of the Bajan crowd tonight. I was also very surprised, as the Bajan people love their cricket as much as any cricket followers I have ever seen. They are good-natured people who treat cricket as something of a sacred pastime, even a religion. To see bottles being thrown was a very sad sight.

Verbal abuse is something that is hard to take when it is happening to you but it is pretty well accepted as a part of being an international sportsman. As much as it hurts, the majority of players are able to bite their lip and turn their backs on useless verbal crowd abuse using the old 'sticks and stones' theory to get through. Physical abuse though is another thing, and no sportsman should ever have to put up with what the Aussies had to go through tonight. Twice in five days the Australian cricket captain has been physically endangered by reckless crowds with regard for no one accept themselves.

It was obvious by his tone that 'Tugga' was fuming by the lack of regard shown to his team over the last few days, and who can blame him? Here we have two outstanding cricket teams doing battle in a game that promised so much, and yet for the second time in three games, the crowd was allowed to make a farce of a contest that is supposed to be entertainment.

Sure the incident, which sparked the debacle, looked an unsavoury one, but since when does the crowd have the right to pass judgment on an on-field incident and ruin the spirit of the game? BJ's attempt at an Aussie Rules shepherd didn't look great on the replays, but then we have no idea what really happened in the incident. All I can say, is that BJ is a very cool customer, who in 10 years of playing with him, hasn't stepped out of line once in that time. In the heat of the battle, he could never be blamed for triggering the incident, the mistake he probably made was that it was the hometown hero that he ran into.

This isn't the first time an incident like this has occurred. Last summer at the MCG Warney had to walk onto the ground and calm down the Aussie supporters and the Indian public almost rioted a few months ago when Sachin Tendulkar was run out in similar circumstances to tonight. While it isn't a one-off, major measures must be taken before players refuse to play. Unless extreme measures are taken the spirit of our wonderful game could be in danger of ruin. Why should any player, who already make massive sacrifices to entertain thousands of people, be put in physical danger? Sure the players are paid handsomely to make these sacrifices, but no money is worth this sort of abuse.

Players love to play in front of big crowds that offer electric atmosphere and entertainment in their own right, but sooner or later, if nothing is done, someone is going to be badly hurt (at the very least) or the player's simply won't play. This would be a sad day, but no one could blame the players, just as no one could blame 'Tugga' for his bleak appraisal of his memories of certain aspects of this now completed West Indies tour.

Roll on the World Cup,

From London, JL