Tym Glaser-final word

WHILE THE World Cup is gently starting to simmer, one mother of a row has reached boiling point between legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar and Australian cricketers present and past.

Sunny, in a recent column in the India Today magazine, described the world champions? behaviour on the field as ?awful? and compared them less than favourably with the great West Indian teams of the 1980s who ?did not abuse opponents. They did not have anything to say to opponents. When they were dominating world cricket, the West Indians did not resort to personal abuse on the field?.

This naturally rankled the Australians who, by and large, can be remarkably thin-skinned for world beaters.

Present Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting led the charge back by saying it was ?high and mighty? of Gavaskar to make such claims, ?considering the way India have played their cricket over the last few years.

?He has been a big part of that, he has been a selector and he has been on the coaching committee. They might want to start to look at the way they play their own cricket rather than looking at us.

It could all have ended there with both sides going off grumbling into their respective corners.

However, the dogged little Indian just couldn't let the matter die and in his self-appointed role as Lord High Protector of Cricket Morals responded with ridiculous and ill-timed venom.

On a subsequent TV show, Sunny really let rip.

Someday, some other hot-head guy might actually get down and you know, whack somebody who abuses him, Gavaskar said alluding to former Australian cricketer David Hookes who was fatally beaten outside a Melbourne bar.

Would the Australians who use that kind of language on the field, and not all of them do, use it in a bar and would they get away with it? Would they have a fist coming at their face or not

Remarks

To say Gavaskar's remarks were tasteless would be grossly under-stating the point and Australians en masse were quick to pounce on India's original ?Little Master?.

Hookes? South Australian mate Darren Lehmann, who was with the former Australian vice-captain that fateful night in St. Kilda, said Sunny, now an ICC official, had ?stepped over the line? and at the very least ?owed Hooksey?s family an apology?.

Veteran Australian paceman Glenn McGrath, among others, also joined the fray.

?I think when you start bringing David Hookes into it that?s crossing the line. It?s very disrespectful. Sunny was an amazing cricketer, but I think this time he?s gone beyond,? said the never-short-of-a-word McGrath. ?It?s fine to say that we are (awful), but at the end of the day I think the Indian team does it as well as every other team.

?(But) the comments in themselves are very disappointing when he?s mentioning David Hookes, and you really feel for Hookesy's family.

Perhaps the most succinct words were put forth by Allan Border, the former Australian skipper who described himself as a ?mate? of both Hookes and Gavaskar and shares his name with the latter on the trophy Australia and India battle for in Tests.

I consider Sunny a friend, but what he said about David Hookes and the behaviour of Australian cricketers was totally uncalled for, AB said. ?What Sunny said on television was totally inappropriate.

For him to link David?s death to players allegedly misbehaving on a cricket field is plain wrong,

Border went on to say Australia played ?hard and tough? and that could be misconstrued in other countries.

global sport

?Similarly, the way India plays the game at times may not be to the liking of every Australian. Cricket is a global sport in which different cultures lock horns out in the middle. Only the nuances of the game may vary from country to country.

?While a cricketer on the subcontinent or the West Indies may find an Australian bowler?s remark to a particular batsman of ?you lucky bastard? offensive, to players in other teams it?s not. Sunny has missed the point here badly. He?s clearly overlooked the fact there are different cultures at work.?

Border?s got it right.

Just how boring would the World Cup be if each team played in the same manner? Also, every great drama needs a villain and that?s a role the Aussies never mind filling.

To link Hookes? death to on-field behaviour is insensitive, ill-informed and crude, but Gavaskar is entitled to his opinion.

However, let?s not forget this great arbiter for the sanctity of the game once led his batting partner, Chetan Chauhan, off the MCG and was willing to forfeit a Test match after being adjudged leg before.

When asked why? He apparently responded, in part: Because they (the Australians) were abusing me.?

Seems like old memories die hard for Sunny.