Sack Ponting, he turned his cricketers into wild dogs, says Roebuck of Oz

Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck, who commands respect Down Under, described the home side’s win “the ugliest performance put up by an Australian side for 20 years.”

“If Cricket Australia cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players over the past few days. Beyond comparison it was the ugliest performance put up by an Australian side for 20 years. The only surprising part of it is that the Indians have not packed their bags and gone home. There is no justice for them in this country, nor any manners,” he wrote.

Pointing out that “Australia itself has been embarrassed” by the behaviour of its players, Roebuck adds: “The notion that Ponting can hereafter take the Australian team to India is preposterous. He has shown not the slightest interest in the well-being of the game, not the slightest sign of diplomatic skills, not a single mark of respect for his accomplished and widely admired opponents.”

Expressing support for Harbhajan, Roebuck, a former county captain, writes: “Harbhajan Singh can be an irritating young man but he is head of a family and responsible for raising nine people. And all the Australian elders want to do is to hunt him from the game. Australian fieldsmen fire insults from the corners of their mouths, an intemperate Sikh warrior overreacts and his rudeness is seized upon. It might impress barrack room lawyers.”

... contd.