It may have taken a few decades but the lesson has been worth learning: don’t waste emotional or physical energy on problems or scenarios over which you have no control.
Very true ! I am a dual South African Australia citizen and my husband is currently stuck in Australia (can’t get out). I commented to him that it was strange that the Australians waited until AFTER our cases had dropped back down to 2000 a day to make their announcement. Indicating that it clearly had nothing to do with COVID.
Covid was the excuse, Shona. I know the players were concerned that they might be 'stuck' in SA if any of them contracted the virus because there are no commercial flights between the countries. So the charter plane would have to leave them behind. That's an entirely legitimate concern. So why didnt they just say that?
Why doesn't SA with West Indies, NZ and Sri Lanka not create a breakaway body or tournament with a league format over 6 weeks bringing together the unique brands of SA fast bowling, West indies calypso, NZ all rounder style and Sri Lanka Asian spin or even Pakistan. It could be a 4 day format, with a 3 day rest, giving the fourth week a chance for the knock out round of 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4 as a proper 5 day format and for a final of the winners in week 6. This could be followed by 2 weeks of ODIs playing each other twice. It could really be a revenue generator with broadcasting rights and bringing a sense of a world cup festival feel.
The status quo means that India, England and Australia are going to continue in the current vein and the rest of the countries must simply feed off the scraps. So use a similar Packer series approach to create some hype around a test knockout format as the IPL format and brand is already been used ad nauseum. It will basically last one week longer than the IPL if one adds 2.5 weeks for ODI and knockouts.
Prepare 3 tracks in Johannesburg / Pretoria which offer pace, batting and spin variations to ensure equitable conditions. Wanderers, Centurion, Willow / Senwes. And I'm sure these teams will be happy with the hospitality and BSE south africa can set up.
Agree 100%. CA very dishonest and manipulative. Aussies never wanted to tour SA. Eyes firmly fixed on IPL. But there is another side that will anger some readers. My daughter and family live in Sydney. Pre Covid I visited regularly. Last few years saw big change in Aus attitude to SA. They love Saffers and we have thousands of expats there. But they now see SA as a violent dishonest ugly failed African state. Many were scared to come here even before our virus mess ups. We really are seen as a very dangerous place to visit (perhaps excluding W Cape). I know many South Africans there that are totally patriotic and don’t miss a Bok or Proteas match but will no longer bring their kids here. Our demise is a common conversation topic -not with glee but with great sadness. My view is that it’s going to get worse. This is not a defence of Aussie cricket.I tweeted months ago that they would not come here. However there was no honesty. I have no solutions.
David, there is undoubtedly some truth in what you say. I have experienced it myself. Whether people believe SA is a 'failed state' or not is a subject for a different discussion. My point was that, should you believe any destination to be unsafe to travel to, for whatever reason, but you have accepted an invitation to visit, then be honest about your change of mind. Don't allow your hosts to prepare dinner, bring out the best cuttlery and make up the spare room before you tell them you're not coming...
You guys in SA clearly get different news to us in Aus. You may not know it but you have a strain of the virus that is causing huge uncertainty (not just Aus, but world wide). No one knows at this point, how our major vaccine will cope with it (Preliminary test results in SA are not good). You have administrators that are incompetent and seemingly incapable of managing any process, let alone Covid. The English tour was called of due to SA incompetence - what makes you think the Aus tour would have been any different. The safety of the cricketers could not be guaranteed and any responsible country would have postponed the trip to South Africa. You guys must understand we have almost zero local transmission here and Employees face litigation if their employees catch the virus on work duty. The sacking of your CEO supports the CSA decision....Would have loved to see you guys being thrashed and us in the finals...I wont mention Pakistan.
Totally agree but some integrity by your CA would have helped. They lied and manipulated instead of being up front and honest. Won’t mention India or sandpaper.
Garrick, many apologies for the delay. Of course I'm happy for you to post anything I write on Facebook. Hopefully some of your Aussie mates will subscribe...although, perhaps not?
So maddening to read this, Neil! I watched the series called "The Test" on Prime Video with my 2 young sons a short while ago. After watching the series, my perception of the Aussie Cricket team turned 180 degrees. I really thought they had come a long way from the Sandpaper-Steve debacle. BUT, then came the Indian series... Their behavior on the field was back to their old Yobbo ways (thank you for reminding me of that term, Mark). The sledging behind the wicket by Paine was ridiculous and Pant's retort was brilliant. These Aussie a-holes let themselves time after time. Their arrogance is unbelievable. As South Africans, we have always been known to be great hosts. Whether it is on the sports field or having people around for a braai. We must never change that. In the case of the Aussies, I believe we simply don't offer them ANY hospitality in South Africa again! Get stuffed CA!
I understand your frustration, Dave, but I'm very much against becoming poor hosts. I'd rather we continue to be good hosts and set an example. Incidentally, I've been fortunate enough to tour Australia a dozen times and they, too, are terrific hosts. I've enjoyed some of the best hospitality on earth in Australia. Let's not confuse our frustration with certain administrators and the majority of the Australian public. Several of my very best friends are Australian - seriously! :)
Thank you for your understanding, Neil. My plea for not offering Aussie Cricket hospitality is clearly one born of disappointment and anger at CA. I apologise for that. I have many Aussie friends and work colleagues and they are too good people. Having said that though, being strung along by CA after bending over backwards for them just doesn't help their reputation of perceived or actual arrogance over the years. Let's hold thumbs that the relationship between CA and CSA will come right soon. At the end of the day, although SA are not in the "Big 3", the Proteas still have a proud history of cricket and a great rivalry with the Aussies. We don't need cricket to be the loser here. Thanks again for your column - keep 'em coming. Cheers!
Absolutely agree - we need competent, empathetic and professional boards and executives at both CA and CSA before we can hope for a restoration of cooperative governance.
Maybe winning three successive Test series down under (having not won for almost a century before) was a little greedy... :)
I'm afraid it would appear so, JP. My 15 year old son told me that while watching it! I asked him to give the Aussies the benefit of the doubt. What a naïve father he has ;-)
Great hosts lol - like the low life slander of Warner`s wife. You south african`s love to gun for Australia - its all about envy. Suggest you take your frustrations out on your own government and stop embarrassing yourselves....
Australian players had every intention of playing in SA, Neil, so while you might be angry, your suggestions of player culpability are either ignorant with reckless indifference to the truth or, simply, sensationalist, deliberate and defamatory accusations knowing them to be untrue. Either way, you should be better than that. The decision was not one taken by the players; they wanted to go. Not playing test cricket for any period of time, let alone 10 months, and hardly playing any test cricket in 22 months, is the last thing they want. So perhaps focus on the facts. I know it doesn’t enhance the propensity of your readers to enjoy your authorship, but it is the truth.
You are a powerful and influential figure in cricket and I respect everything you have done for the game, especially in the establishment of the IPL. I'm reasonably confident that you have not adopted a threatening tone here and that we both know there is nothing 'defamatory' in my column. If, as you suggest, my facts are incorrect then please be more specific. If you would rather not use a public platform, then feel free to email me: neil@mwp.co.za. You say I should focus on the facts. That is exactly what I did. Which ones are incorrect?
You are close to the players, so I have no doubt you are correct in saying they wanted to tour. I have also heard from a colleague of yours that their over-riding concern was that they may have to be 'left behind' in South Africa if any of them contracted the virus because they would not not be able to take a commercial flight. That is an entirely understandable and legitimate concern. So why didn't they just say so? It would have been disapponting, but very 'real world.'
Dean, I wrote with feeling not because it is a matter of honour, but of livelihoods. Calling me 'sensationalist' is, in itself, you being sensationalist. Send me the facts I got wrong. neil
But yet you were happy to go to India which has far more COVID cares and deaths and inferior medical care to South Africa. The variant was just the excuse you needed 🙄😂
I lived in Australia for 15 years and I know how things roll. Money is everything and all decisions revolve around it. Ethics are usually an afterthought.
I think that is pretty much the case anywhere. The mighty$ has captured players, administrators and politicians. I assume that Neil took an almost obligatory course in ethics, so some of the Fourth Estate still respect their heritage. There is of course a dividing line between a report and an opinion and I fear that most so-called "News Houses" have succumbed to the latter to the neglect of the former. Advertising on CNN or Sky drives me nuts but that is how they stay on air. Safety is of course a logical factor. My guess is that most top sportsmen want to play against the best. So the question is - does South African cricket still have some of the best?
Hi Neil and all my SAF friends. Dinky di true blue Bondi Jack here from Sydney. I can assure you all that Paine and Langer AND most likely Lyon Warner & Smith never had the stomach or spine for this tour. After their woeful 2nd straight home capitulation to India, the underwhelming careers of the arrogant & aloof Langer & Paine WERE under clear imminent threat amidst dressing room revolt and public anger over SCG & Gabba farce.
So scared of failure vs. "boer marka plan" - just call it off, take away the scrutiny & protect your dishonored grubby spineless jobs until the December Ashes - when Englandwill have played 12 tests to our None. Just break all our hearts & send CSA broke too. Who cares?
Nothing to see here...its all about (hiding behind) the faceless rubbish so-called health expert advice and how Oz does Covid best.
Hi Jack, Needless to say that's not the way CA is spinning it... :) The 'issue' is not whether the Australians should, or should not have come, but how they went about it. If the players still had genuine and legitimate concerns about travelling to South Africa, then we should all respect them. And it would have been much easier to do so had they been honest and expressed those concerns, and their preference not to travel, much earlier.
Well aware of your issue for a week now Neil. They could have 'pulled the pin' mid December. Same was being said here in Oz. SA bent over backward & Aus kept shifting the goalposts late to justify an out & we now know they were never keen to go. That is treacherous & disingenuous & dishonorable. But I still consider it likely that these final calls filtered up from the dressing room to the Board - not player safety related. Mutiny brewing toward Langer is common known & Paine is on the nose in several areas - Catching Captaincy Field placements DRS & worst of all,foot in mouth ugly banter. Massive heat on both of them here & on Lyon who is a scared negative selfish stupid frustrating flat legside bowler with no offside threat to RHBs - yet they still call him the GOAT. He is a Goat. Six men on the leg - three of them on the rope - for hours on end defending 407 & 330. No silly point for Pujara omg.That is Paine & Cooley's fault too. Smith ridiculed Lyon & FORCED Lyon to bowl full on off stump from his 1st day as Skipper & mocked him on field "get it out there & up here or you're gone!". There is No stomach or spine for a short tour risking Ashes spots and risking even greater criticism at home for Paine & Langer. They wanted the heat taken out & so did CA. No tour stomach for Warner Smith Starc either. Robert Craddock has been as scathing at CA as you and Vaughan have. Cheers Bondi Jack. ps I sold Greigy's house for him 20 years after I met him (as my u18s Coach at Waverley CC) with Boycott & then Kepler opening for us & Greigy (Captain).
Seriously concerned with South Africans intellect - I suppose if you live in a third world shit hole for long enough - it warps your ability to reason. Have you guys not heard of the South African mutation? Its like you guys sending a team to play in the Congo during the Ebola pandemic. Grow up and take your frustrations out on your Cadre government that couldn`t give a shit about its peoples health...
Umm, yip, but not the first time iether , that CA has done a number on CSA. It's also not in cricket only either. Australia is F%^&**( South Africa in other spheres as well. Anyway they can play World series cricket amongst themselves again. Oh! look at me ,I'm World Series champion again, OHH! look at me.
The Australian justifications are dishonest to say the least. It is largely financially driven by the IPL players. However the sad reality is that based on our current performance, the cancellation saves us the embarrassment of a drubbing.
That may, or may not, be the truth. But it's not the point, is it? In my opinion. And that of the good people (and there are many) trying to keep the game afloat in SA.
The Ashes will always be the biggest show in Test cricket. Strategically SA needs to align with India, scraps off them will be better than what we currently are getting. I feel we may have missed the opportunity to do this when we had the stars like DS/JK and AbdV in the team.
Quite right, Steven. But then, that's what all of the 'small seven' are trying to do. As well as the other two members of the 'big three'. Everyone, apart from England and Australia during an Ashes year, is trying to align themselves with India. It is an inherently unhealthy situation for the game.
Steady Garrick! I know many Australians I'd take a bullet for. We're talking about a very small minority of self-serving people motivated solely by the bottom line. They exist everywhere...
It's not Australians. Its Cricket Australia - the crusty aloof unaccountable ACB muppets. We have all despised & resented their spineless elitist rude clueless policies towards NZ & to the minnows for ages. They treated players the same way - until K Packer screwed them with World Series Cricket. Just ask Neil Manthorp. Haha I even met Kepler & Garth & Imran through that. And AW Greig was my U18 Coach & Club Captain at the time. And its (some of) their pampered privileged entitled players who are the yobbos - the 'Ugly Australians' like that dope Nathan Lyon when he ran out the Champion AB de Villiers in 2018. They were like wild savages. It was like Lord of the Flies. Lyon feigning to piss in ABs dead scull as he lay prone on the crease. As if the gentleman AB wouldn't make it his business to make the morons pay. That's what these dopes do best. Poke the Bear,stir the wounded Wildebeest & then WE pay for it. Pant Ashwin...even vile sledging of the gentle Murali Vijay two years ago under Langer/Payne. Langer burst into the England rooms and loudly abused their players after Aus won the 1st Ashes Test away in 2005. Poetic. South Africa has some of them too. You know who they are. That's OUR ball Faf.
What can I say, Neil. Brilliant reply and so sparing! I'm a journalist at heart & i signed up because you are not a wallflower. As the great Ian 'bertie' Chappell and Shane Warne have both long said - the Australian Cricket team never needed the hangers-on. "Show us a coach like John Buchanan and we'll show you a guy whose usefulness is in carrying our bags." Cheers pal, keep it up. Hope you liked the Lord of the Flies quote.
Very true ! I am a dual South African Australia citizen and my husband is currently stuck in Australia (can’t get out). I commented to him that it was strange that the Australians waited until AFTER our cases had dropped back down to 2000 a day to make their announcement. Indicating that it clearly had nothing to do with COVID.
Covid was the excuse, Shona. I know the players were concerned that they might be 'stuck' in SA if any of them contracted the virus because there are no commercial flights between the countries. So the charter plane would have to leave them behind. That's an entirely legitimate concern. So why didnt they just say that?
Why doesn't SA with West Indies, NZ and Sri Lanka not create a breakaway body or tournament with a league format over 6 weeks bringing together the unique brands of SA fast bowling, West indies calypso, NZ all rounder style and Sri Lanka Asian spin or even Pakistan. It could be a 4 day format, with a 3 day rest, giving the fourth week a chance for the knock out round of 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4 as a proper 5 day format and for a final of the winners in week 6. This could be followed by 2 weeks of ODIs playing each other twice. It could really be a revenue generator with broadcasting rights and bringing a sense of a world cup festival feel.
The status quo means that India, England and Australia are going to continue in the current vein and the rest of the countries must simply feed off the scraps. So use a similar Packer series approach to create some hype around a test knockout format as the IPL format and brand is already been used ad nauseum. It will basically last one week longer than the IPL if one adds 2.5 weeks for ODI and knockouts.
Prepare 3 tracks in Johannesburg / Pretoria which offer pace, batting and spin variations to ensure equitable conditions. Wanderers, Centurion, Willow / Senwes. And I'm sure these teams will be happy with the hospitality and BSE south africa can set up.
Agree 100%. CA very dishonest and manipulative. Aussies never wanted to tour SA. Eyes firmly fixed on IPL. But there is another side that will anger some readers. My daughter and family live in Sydney. Pre Covid I visited regularly. Last few years saw big change in Aus attitude to SA. They love Saffers and we have thousands of expats there. But they now see SA as a violent dishonest ugly failed African state. Many were scared to come here even before our virus mess ups. We really are seen as a very dangerous place to visit (perhaps excluding W Cape). I know many South Africans there that are totally patriotic and don’t miss a Bok or Proteas match but will no longer bring their kids here. Our demise is a common conversation topic -not with glee but with great sadness. My view is that it’s going to get worse. This is not a defence of Aussie cricket.I tweeted months ago that they would not come here. However there was no honesty. I have no solutions.
David, there is undoubtedly some truth in what you say. I have experienced it myself. Whether people believe SA is a 'failed state' or not is a subject for a different discussion. My point was that, should you believe any destination to be unsafe to travel to, for whatever reason, but you have accepted an invitation to visit, then be honest about your change of mind. Don't allow your hosts to prepare dinner, bring out the best cuttlery and make up the spare room before you tell them you're not coming...
Totally agree. 100%. Keep up the great work.
You guys in SA clearly get different news to us in Aus. You may not know it but you have a strain of the virus that is causing huge uncertainty (not just Aus, but world wide). No one knows at this point, how our major vaccine will cope with it (Preliminary test results in SA are not good). You have administrators that are incompetent and seemingly incapable of managing any process, let alone Covid. The English tour was called of due to SA incompetence - what makes you think the Aus tour would have been any different. The safety of the cricketers could not be guaranteed and any responsible country would have postponed the trip to South Africa. You guys must understand we have almost zero local transmission here and Employees face litigation if their employees catch the virus on work duty. The sacking of your CEO supports the CSA decision....Would have loved to see you guys being thrashed and us in the finals...I wont mention Pakistan.
Totally agree but some integrity by your CA would have helped. They lied and manipulated instead of being up front and honest. Won’t mention India or sandpaper.
Hi Neil. Would you be happy with me posting this on Facebook? I'd love my Aussie mates to see this.
Garrick, many apologies for the delay. Of course I'm happy for you to post anything I write on Facebook. Hopefully some of your Aussie mates will subscribe...although, perhaps not?
No problem. There's one particular Aussie, I think, who seems a little peeved so maybe I'll think about putting it on Facebook. Great article though.
So maddening to read this, Neil! I watched the series called "The Test" on Prime Video with my 2 young sons a short while ago. After watching the series, my perception of the Aussie Cricket team turned 180 degrees. I really thought they had come a long way from the Sandpaper-Steve debacle. BUT, then came the Indian series... Their behavior on the field was back to their old Yobbo ways (thank you for reminding me of that term, Mark). The sledging behind the wicket by Paine was ridiculous and Pant's retort was brilliant. These Aussie a-holes let themselves time after time. Their arrogance is unbelievable. As South Africans, we have always been known to be great hosts. Whether it is on the sports field or having people around for a braai. We must never change that. In the case of the Aussies, I believe we simply don't offer them ANY hospitality in South Africa again! Get stuffed CA!
I understand your frustration, Dave, but I'm very much against becoming poor hosts. I'd rather we continue to be good hosts and set an example. Incidentally, I've been fortunate enough to tour Australia a dozen times and they, too, are terrific hosts. I've enjoyed some of the best hospitality on earth in Australia. Let's not confuse our frustration with certain administrators and the majority of the Australian public. Several of my very best friends are Australian - seriously! :)
Thank you for your understanding, Neil. My plea for not offering Aussie Cricket hospitality is clearly one born of disappointment and anger at CA. I apologise for that. I have many Aussie friends and work colleagues and they are too good people. Having said that though, being strung along by CA after bending over backwards for them just doesn't help their reputation of perceived or actual arrogance over the years. Let's hold thumbs that the relationship between CA and CSA will come right soon. At the end of the day, although SA are not in the "Big 3", the Proteas still have a proud history of cricket and a great rivalry with the Aussies. We don't need cricket to be the loser here. Thanks again for your column - keep 'em coming. Cheers!
Absolutely agree - we need competent, empathetic and professional boards and executives at both CA and CSA before we can hope for a restoration of cooperative governance.
Maybe winning three successive Test series down under (having not won for almost a century before) was a little greedy... :)
TPaine featured prominently in it, i think his recent action showed how permamant the changes were.
Unfortunately Dave, "The Test" was nothing but a PR job.
I'm afraid it would appear so, JP. My 15 year old son told me that while watching it! I asked him to give the Aussies the benefit of the doubt. What a naïve father he has ;-)
Great hosts lol - like the low life slander of Warner`s wife. You south african`s love to gun for Australia - its all about envy. Suggest you take your frustrations out on your own government and stop embarrassing yourselves....
The Aussies are w^*¥nkers. Let’s move on. Thanks for the good write-up Manners.
Australian players had every intention of playing in SA, Neil, so while you might be angry, your suggestions of player culpability are either ignorant with reckless indifference to the truth or, simply, sensationalist, deliberate and defamatory accusations knowing them to be untrue. Either way, you should be better than that. The decision was not one taken by the players; they wanted to go. Not playing test cricket for any period of time, let alone 10 months, and hardly playing any test cricket in 22 months, is the last thing they want. So perhaps focus on the facts. I know it doesn’t enhance the propensity of your readers to enjoy your authorship, but it is the truth.
Dear DK,
You are a powerful and influential figure in cricket and I respect everything you have done for the game, especially in the establishment of the IPL. I'm reasonably confident that you have not adopted a threatening tone here and that we both know there is nothing 'defamatory' in my column. If, as you suggest, my facts are incorrect then please be more specific. If you would rather not use a public platform, then feel free to email me: neil@mwp.co.za. You say I should focus on the facts. That is exactly what I did. Which ones are incorrect?
You are close to the players, so I have no doubt you are correct in saying they wanted to tour. I have also heard from a colleague of yours that their over-riding concern was that they may have to be 'left behind' in South Africa if any of them contracted the virus because they would not not be able to take a commercial flight. That is an entirely understandable and legitimate concern. So why didn't they just say so? It would have been disapponting, but very 'real world.'
Dean, I wrote with feeling not because it is a matter of honour, but of livelihoods. Calling me 'sensationalist' is, in itself, you being sensationalist. Send me the facts I got wrong. neil
How would you know DK?Money,the IPL is the answer!One doesn't have to be clever to work that one out !
But yet you were happy to go to India which has far more COVID cares and deaths and inferior medical care to South Africa. The variant was just the excuse you needed 🙄😂
I lived in Australia for 15 years and I know how things roll. Money is everything and all decisions revolve around it. Ethics are usually an afterthought.
I think that is pretty much the case anywhere. The mighty$ has captured players, administrators and politicians. I assume that Neil took an almost obligatory course in ethics, so some of the Fourth Estate still respect their heritage. There is of course a dividing line between a report and an opinion and I fear that most so-called "News Houses" have succumbed to the latter to the neglect of the former. Advertising on CNN or Sky drives me nuts but that is how they stay on air. Safety is of course a logical factor. My guess is that most top sportsmen want to play against the best. So the question is - does South African cricket still have some of the best?
Well said mate
Hi Neil and all my SAF friends. Dinky di true blue Bondi Jack here from Sydney. I can assure you all that Paine and Langer AND most likely Lyon Warner & Smith never had the stomach or spine for this tour. After their woeful 2nd straight home capitulation to India, the underwhelming careers of the arrogant & aloof Langer & Paine WERE under clear imminent threat amidst dressing room revolt and public anger over SCG & Gabba farce.
So scared of failure vs. "boer marka plan" - just call it off, take away the scrutiny & protect your dishonored grubby spineless jobs until the December Ashes - when Englandwill have played 12 tests to our None. Just break all our hearts & send CSA broke too. Who cares?
Nothing to see here...its all about (hiding behind) the faceless rubbish so-called health expert advice and how Oz does Covid best.
Hi Jack, Needless to say that's not the way CA is spinning it... :) The 'issue' is not whether the Australians should, or should not have come, but how they went about it. If the players still had genuine and legitimate concerns about travelling to South Africa, then we should all respect them. And it would have been much easier to do so had they been honest and expressed those concerns, and their preference not to travel, much earlier.
Well aware of your issue for a week now Neil. They could have 'pulled the pin' mid December. Same was being said here in Oz. SA bent over backward & Aus kept shifting the goalposts late to justify an out & we now know they were never keen to go. That is treacherous & disingenuous & dishonorable. But I still consider it likely that these final calls filtered up from the dressing room to the Board - not player safety related. Mutiny brewing toward Langer is common known & Paine is on the nose in several areas - Catching Captaincy Field placements DRS & worst of all,foot in mouth ugly banter. Massive heat on both of them here & on Lyon who is a scared negative selfish stupid frustrating flat legside bowler with no offside threat to RHBs - yet they still call him the GOAT. He is a Goat. Six men on the leg - three of them on the rope - for hours on end defending 407 & 330. No silly point for Pujara omg.That is Paine & Cooley's fault too. Smith ridiculed Lyon & FORCED Lyon to bowl full on off stump from his 1st day as Skipper & mocked him on field "get it out there & up here or you're gone!". There is No stomach or spine for a short tour risking Ashes spots and risking even greater criticism at home for Paine & Langer. They wanted the heat taken out & so did CA. No tour stomach for Warner Smith Starc either. Robert Craddock has been as scathing at CA as you and Vaughan have. Cheers Bondi Jack. ps I sold Greigy's house for him 20 years after I met him (as my u18s Coach at Waverley CC) with Boycott & then Kepler opening for us & Greigy (Captain).
Seriously concerned with South Africans intellect - I suppose if you live in a third world shit hole for long enough - it warps your ability to reason. Have you guys not heard of the South African mutation? Its like you guys sending a team to play in the Congo during the Ebola pandemic. Grow up and take your frustrations out on your Cadre government that couldn`t give a shit about its peoples health...
Not worthy of a response.
Umm, yip, but not the first time iether , that CA has done a number on CSA. It's also not in cricket only either. Australia is F%^&**( South Africa in other spheres as well. Anyway they can play World series cricket amongst themselves again. Oh! look at me ,I'm World Series champion again, OHH! look at me.
Credit where it's due - the Aussies, with Packer, did revolutionise cricket into the product we all (mostly) enjoy now!
Check, sandpaper sales will be down
The sandpaper industry will survive... :)
The Australian justifications are dishonest to say the least. It is largely financially driven by the IPL players. However the sad reality is that based on our current performance, the cancellation saves us the embarrassment of a drubbing.
That may, or may not, be the truth. But it's not the point, is it? In my opinion. And that of the good people (and there are many) trying to keep the game afloat in SA.
Totally understand the team not wanting to travel to South Africa.
Me too, Ant. Which is why they should have said so.
The Ashes will always be the biggest show in Test cricket. Strategically SA needs to align with India, scraps off them will be better than what we currently are getting. I feel we may have missed the opportunity to do this when we had the stars like DS/JK and AbdV in the team.
Quite right, Steven. But then, that's what all of the 'small seven' are trying to do. As well as the other two members of the 'big three'. Everyone, apart from England and Australia during an Ashes year, is trying to align themselves with India. It is an inherently unhealthy situation for the game.
Thanks for the real stuff!
Apologies for the delayed reply - it's my pleasure, Wade. :)
Further proof of what we all know about Australians.
Steady Garrick! I know many Australians I'd take a bullet for. We're talking about a very small minority of self-serving people motivated solely by the bottom line. They exist everywhere...
It's not Australians. Its Cricket Australia - the crusty aloof unaccountable ACB muppets. We have all despised & resented their spineless elitist rude clueless policies towards NZ & to the minnows for ages. They treated players the same way - until K Packer screwed them with World Series Cricket. Just ask Neil Manthorp. Haha I even met Kepler & Garth & Imran through that. And AW Greig was my U18 Coach & Club Captain at the time. And its (some of) their pampered privileged entitled players who are the yobbos - the 'Ugly Australians' like that dope Nathan Lyon when he ran out the Champion AB de Villiers in 2018. They were like wild savages. It was like Lord of the Flies. Lyon feigning to piss in ABs dead scull as he lay prone on the crease. As if the gentleman AB wouldn't make it his business to make the morons pay. That's what these dopes do best. Poke the Bear,stir the wounded Wildebeest & then WE pay for it. Pant Ashwin...even vile sledging of the gentle Murali Vijay two years ago under Langer/Payne. Langer burst into the England rooms and loudly abused their players after Aus won the 1st Ashes Test away in 2005. Poetic. South Africa has some of them too. You know who they are. That's OUR ball Faf.
Better out than in, John! :)
What can I say, Neil. Brilliant reply and so sparing! I'm a journalist at heart & i signed up because you are not a wallflower. As the great Ian 'bertie' Chappell and Shane Warne have both long said - the Australian Cricket team never needed the hangers-on. "Show us a coach like John Buchanan and we'll show you a guy whose usefulness is in carrying our bags." Cheers pal, keep it up. Hope you liked the Lord of the Flies quote.
You sound like another bitter South African that knows he should have left. Enjoy your shit hole....
Craig, honestly - does your mother know you're still up?
So I guess that you're finding that the truth sometimes hurts.
"Craig" only has one comment and keeps repeating it - stupid Yob.