Time to bring in Asian origin cricketers into Australian team
Updated On: 26 August, 2009 06:47 AM IST | | Khalid A-H Ansari
The backlash over Australia's surrender of the Ashes to England and, worse, relegation to fifth position in the ICC Test rankings, has been fierce.
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The backlash over Australia's surrender of the Ashes to England and, worse, relegation to fifth position in the ICC Test rankings, has been fierce.
The kickback among fans in this famously sports-minded nation has ranged from calls foru00a0 Ricky Ponting's head to headlines in the Australian media screaming: "Hopeless At Cricket, Can't Play Rugby", in a reference to the Australians' national Rugby Union team, the Wallabies losing to the Kiwi All Blacks' last weekend.
In all the soul searching there is a discernable call for revamp of the Australian system, with suggestions that the nation's sport needs "ethnic stars", namely players of Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan ethnicity, as has happened in South Africa and England.
In an article displayed on its front page yesterday, the Sydney Morning Herald laments: "While England and South Africa have long tapped into rich pools of ethnic talent, fielding players such as Shafayat, Hussein and Ntini, the Australian team remains solidly Anglo as in the days of Bradman and Miller."
The report quotes Raj Natrajan, president of the Indian Sports Club and coach: "I have long asked myself 'when
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Test opener Simon Katich who is Croatian and former pace bowler Jason Gillespie, an Aboriginal have been cited as examples by Australian cricket administrators amid suggestions that the system must embrace ethnic communities into cricket. pic/getty images Read Next Story Trending StoriesLatest Photos |
