Dear ICC, have you lost your balls?
This is the second time Harbhajan Singh has called Andrew Symonds a monkey. This, as we all seem to know (except apparently in India) is a racial slur.
When is the ICC going to find it’s balls and say “enough”, and stop taking so much pressure from the BCCI.
This is intolerable, not just in high-level sport, but in any section of civilised society, and the fact that the ICC is kow-towing to its financial center in India makes me sick to my stomach.
Instead of bleating, the BCCI should be accepting whatever ICC disciplinary action comes Bhaju’s way, and sanctioning their own (supposedly professional) sportsman for what is an egregious breach of the ICC’s Code of Conduct.
Or is racism now condoned in India?
January 10th, 2008 at 15:41 pm
The whole thing with sledging should just be dropped in cricket. Abuse of any kind should never be condoned, coz thats when you have lines being crossed. Although I am hardly sympathetic to the Australians, who despite all their tough talk of ‘what happens on the field, stays on the field’ have not exactly been walking the walk. In which other sport is it acceptable to constantly harangue and assault your opponent with a verbal barrage to the extent they do in cricket.
The ICC have never had balls, they are worse than mahure a Mugabe akarehwa na Dongo. They are more likely to have lost their marbles than their balls.
January 10th, 2008 at 16:26 pm
Look, sledging in sport is something that is a part of the game at the highest level.
But there are times when the line is crossed, like racial insults. You can never “drop” sledging in cricket, or in any high level sport.
But like in football, there should be zero tolerance for racism.
January 10th, 2008 at 16:28 pm
Oh, as for sledging in other sports, come on Elle. Football, baseball, basketball, american football, whatever.
All but rugby I guess, where the refs do have the power to heavily sanction a player ON THE FIELD for any bullshit talk.
January 10th, 2008 at 17:00 pm
Most other sports they are too busy running around after some kind of leather ball to have too much time for trash talking. Their games also tend not to go on for 5 days. And even then, revenge is swift and savage, Zidane showed how it should be done. Kutakana kuripo muvanhu. But the ‘leisurely’ pace of cricket gives people far too much time on their hands. And you know what they say about idle hands and a certain Lucifer.
I might be being obtuse, but being called a monkey doesnt rate highly on my list of racial slurs. Now call me a nigga and we can start talking. Or beating the sh** out of each other. What if you are Chinese and your sign is monkey, does that still rate as racism if someone calls you a monkey?
January 10th, 2008 at 17:07 pm
Oh don’t be stupid Eleanor, you and I both know what it means when you call a blankie a “monkey”. What is this Chinese shit now; who oh who’s being obtuse?
January 10th, 2008 at 17:52 pm
Well, thats me told.
January 10th, 2008 at 18:44 pm
It’s because I love you
January 10th, 2008 at 20:16 pm
No kidding.
January 11th, 2008 at 09:18 am
Stop fighting children. Anyone who calls a darkie a ‘monkey’ should be arrested. Isn’t that what Australia calls hate speech?
January 11th, 2008 at 09:29 am
Well if Mihir Bose is to be believed, at the time of the incident, HS wasnt even speaking in English. So it could all end up being much ado about nothing. HS was apparently chewing out AS’ mother, which puts a whole new spin on things.
January 11th, 2008 at 09:50 am
What the fuck? ZESA is exporting power?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=12171
January 11th, 2008 at 09:52 am
Who listens to Mihir Bose, anyway? Chick, the remark was heard not just by AS, but the camera clearly showed Ponting telling HS it was the second time he’d crossed the line.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
“Then again, he is a colleague and I have a responsibility towards him as his captain and as a fellow Indian. It is a serious allegation, calling someone a racist. You are not just accusing a cricketer, but the ramifications of this accusation, unproven in the eyes of mostly everyone, were bound to be huge. After all, India’s cricketers are also the country’s ambassadors and by making such serious charges, without proof, it becomes a question of honour.” - Anil Kumble
So where were you, Anil, when Bhajji called him a monkey last October? Where were you when Indian crowds taunted AS with monkey chants, something your board denied until provided with video and photographic evidence?
Dumb-ass. A question of honour?
January 11th, 2008 at 10:06 am
My, we do feel rather strongly about this don’t we?
January 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am
sledging will always exist but you guys are right htere are lines that shld not be crossed… racial being the thickest line
but thats beside the point
apparently the whole thing was started by AS when he saw HS hit BL on the posterior
“I have no idea why he did it,” Symonds said. “I was standing nearby and when I saw what happened, I thought, ‘Hold on, that’s not on’. I’m a firm believer in sticking up for your team-mate so I stepped in and had a bit of a crack at Harbhajan, telling him exactly what I thought of his antics. He then had a shot back, which brings us to the situation we’re facing.”
all things aside tho ossies shld grow up
January 11th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Oh, so the whole thing was started by AS, but is was because Bhajji his Lee on the arse? So who started what?
Sledging yes, racism? … Look at English football. You curse the ref out, tell him his mom’s a cunt, whatever … watch the first idiot to call Uriah Rennie a “black bastard” and see the wrath come down.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1674478,00.html
January 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Interesting article, but I see no talk of Rhodesia in there.
January 11th, 2008 at 13:31 pm
the problem there are too many panzies on the sporting field nowadays. If you cant take a jibe then sod off & go be a chef or something. So he called him a monkey, so what?? Get on with the game or deck the guy.
January 11th, 2008 at 13:35 pm
Maybe if ZESA exports, they can charge more and make more money to be able to improve service to the povo without increasing cost?
January 11th, 2008 at 13:46 pm
Gala, how can you export a product, when you don’t even manufacture enough of that product to fulfil domestic demand?
Squire, so you’re tjooning a racial insult is okay?
January 11th, 2008 at 13:48 pm
Even if ZESA werent exporting power, would it really make a difference to their capabilities to provide it to Zim? Coz their problems started WAY before any shady Nampower deals. And for all the talk of refurbishing old equipment, you know that money is going to buy someone’s mistress a new 4×4 or a trip to Dubai.
January 11th, 2008 at 13:53 pm
JB, your question about exporting before meeting local demand, well recently there has been some hullabaloo over Waitrose importing tilapia from Zim when there isnt enough food to feed the natives. You do what makes economic sense. if someone is going to pay me foreign currency for a product that the locals would probably not be able to afford at proper market rates, I will take the foreign currency and run. As long as mismanagement remains the order of the day at ZESA and all the other parastatals (who incidentally are having trouble accounting for all the gazillion kwacha Prince Gono merrily doled out to them) it doesnt matter how much potential they have to reduce, there will be no benefit to Joe Public. Look at ZINWA, dams are full but there are disease outbreaks all over the country from lack of water.
January 11th, 2008 at 13:56 pm
*potential to produce*
January 11th, 2008 at 14:00 pm
Okay, tilapia fine, but electricity is not fish babes.
January 11th, 2008 at 15:04 pm
Thanks Elle (RE: 23) in answer to Black (RE:21).
January 11th, 2008 at 15:08 pm
RE:25 The nation is used to not having magetsi anyway so not having a llittle more wont be so bad. How much worse can it get really? Just take it in your stride as always. It is nothing compared to when we lose electricity here. Here, the shit hits the fan and the economy…
January 11th, 2008 at 15:46 pm
RE:JB21 - not saying its ok, but the indians have taken it too far by cancelling. My comment was in reference to the entire tour & the idiotic behaviour we see off the pitch.
RE: ZESA - we are obliged to export a % of our electricty so not much ZESA can do about it. But even if we werent, Ellie abaya dodi nechigunwe in post 23
January 12th, 2008 at 05:28 am
I call bullshit on all’a'y’all. Regarding ZESA, it’s a total cock-up for them to be exporting, just to get a litt’e sum’n-sum’n, when everybody else is cutting us off. Be sensible.
Look, how many times should I repeat this? And this is to you, Squire; we all know sledging happens, Ozzies are arseholes, so are Indians (make that ALL pro sportsmen) and they’ll do anything to gain an advantage over an opponent.
Indeed, the mental aspect of any sport is equal to, if not greater than, the physical aspect.
But when this shit gets racial, gloves are off. RE: your fucking granny
January 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I see Maid Marion has been given 6 months in the slammer. Now aint that a b***h! You cant get more deterrent than that! How much of that do you think she will actually serve, seeing as how they are always complaining of crowded prisons and all.
January 12th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
And as for Chelsea paying 15m for Anelka, kushaya zvekuita ne mari ikoko.
January 12th, 2008 at 22:45 pm
WHOOOOOOOSH!
What’s that sound?
Dale Steyn’s sex-o-meter.
January 13th, 2008 at 02:09 am
Does one say pitiful from the West Indies or kudos to SA? Can you imagine Australia collapsing in such spectacular fashion coz either Ponting/Hussey/Symonds are not playing. WI needs to start winning back the hearts of young cricketers from the other cash rich sports and really invest in development.
January 13th, 2008 at 08:45 am
as they say Same old shit just a different day
the windies are dissapointing.. they lose gayle and later chanderpaul and they collapse like our lities…. pathetic
maybe they need to take time away from tests like we have coz i think that even bangladesh can beat them right now
January 13th, 2008 at 17:41 pm
Dhlaks, generally I would concur with you, I love Bangla but NZ is making them see fire at the moment. Looks like they are going to lose the second test by an innings and then some. I guess you have to start somewhere, but eish, as drubbings go, Bangla has been on the receiving end of one too many. Its their batsmen who let them down, coz their bowlers vano mira mira and actually get the opponents out.
January 13th, 2008 at 19:22 pm
Bangla now is Zimbabwe 13 years ago. The occasional ODI win, but almost nada in Test cricket. But always ‘competitive’ and a couple of genuine world-class talents.
And they’re improving faster than we were (demographics alone will guarantee that) and will soon be whipping the big dogs on their day.
Hope they don’t crash and burn like we did.
January 14th, 2008 at 08:23 am
Dear Mr. Symonds, here’s a suggestion: Get a batting helmet on and pull a Zidane on Harbhajan Materassi’s ass.
January 14th, 2008 at 08:48 am
Our very own Jack Selebi has quit Interpol but won’t bother quitting at home. Tazvijaira.
January 14th, 2008 at 09:03 am
Are you surprised? Just have a look at old JZ and you’ll see the African Disease is contagious.
January 14th, 2008 at 09:50 am
Selebi has actually quit both posts now. I think even Thabo couldnt find a way to finagle him to stay without more public outcry.
So in my efforts to get a life, I went to a gay bar at the weekend. My bigotry knows no bounds. 3 chicks getting down on each other= hot, 2 blokes kissing on the dance flow=Eleanor’s head in a bucket bringing up the contents of the last 3 or 4 meals.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Ewwww
January 14th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Man, it was surreal. Ok, I know ABOUT homosexuality, but that is on an intellectual level. Seeing it in action is a totally different prospect. There was this one couple, one’s black, the other white. And I was thinking, now us black girls have to compete with white MEN too! Danger I tell you. One thing I dont get though is why gay men insist on ramping up the campness. What’s it all in aid of? How can that be a turn on?
January 14th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Well, you DID go to a gay club shaz. WHat did you expect?
January 14th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Elle, I am proud of you. You survived. you get hit one by any girls?
No seriously, just you choosing to go there says a lot. Well done. maybe next time you can try and have some fun.
Wow, Eleanor in a gay bar, explains the pig I could have sworn I saw flying.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I actually had some girl come up to me and ask me if I was a lesbian. I of course hastily replied no, then kicked myself, coz I could have indulged my bi-curious streak.
Dont get me wrong, that club was slamming. The one thing gay men seem to have going for them is that they can dance. And in a country filled with people with 2 left feet, this is no mean feat.
Other than the men making out, I would do it again, if only for the cheap alcohol and the good music and not having to put up with clumsy passes from inebriated heterosexual males.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Good for you.
January 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Looks like the Good Guys are finally winning in RSA. Selebi’s finally quit, and top Scorpion Gerrie Nel has had all ‘charges’ against him dropped.
Now to just get old Zuma in the docks, and there may be hope for ol’ Azania.
January 14th, 2008 at 13:17 pm
Finding Zuma guilty is kinda like arresting one of the runners at Roadport or the World Bank. He is part of a much larger problem. If he goes down, he should take the rest of them with him, coz that Thabo is hardly clean himself. His whole handling of the Scorpions/NPA/Zuma/Selebi/Madladla-Routledge/Manto sagas has been abysmal if I am being kind.
January 14th, 2008 at 13:19 pm
And the charges against Nel were frivolous at best, and the manner of his arrest should be roundly condemned. They are starting to be like the ZRP which arrests you and then later finds something to pin against you while you languish in remand coz the magistrates are on strike.
January 14th, 2008 at 13:53 pm
Harassment tactics; they’re saying here that he should sue someone for wrongful arrest, but he can’t sue Selebi who has quit and whom he is already about to prosecute for fraud.
January 14th, 2008 at 14:33 pm
Next time you choose to go out on a bender, take heed:
http://www.slide.com/r/Sl3k5Ijk4T_cFf0Y2QMw4U4dfq6TJttZ
January 14th, 2008 at 15:13 pm
Yeah zvanzi he could sue the state, in theory, but he wants to just get on wiv the graft.
January 14th, 2008 at 16:40 pm
You can only imagine how lengthy and expensive the litigation would be. I know little about the SA justice system, but certain files and documents have a tendency to walk into thin air without a trace when higher-ups are concerned.
So Hicks has admitted to having talks with Klinsmann, that will fill Rafa’s heart with delight. I swear its that weird tash that he decided to sport that heralded his fall from grace.
January 14th, 2008 at 16:46 pm
You know, these Americans are being stupid. Rafa the Gaffa is an awesome manager, we all know it. And he wants to stay. And he has a long-term plan. Let the guy do his darn job, and stop fekkin around.
Sometimes I just wanna …
January 14th, 2008 at 16:58 pm
I think that is part of the problem with getting all these people who know nothing about football taking over these clubs just because of their financial clout.