"Many fear that we will descend into a situation in which it is open season on people with no pants on and that, as a result, streaking will be forced underground, where it can't be policed. Alternatively, streakers may feel that they have no option but to start padding up for their own protection. And call me old-fashioned, but that's going to defeat the point somewhat."
-- Giles Smith, the Times on Line
Read the entire article here
This is apparently not the first time Andrew Symonds has found himself in the middle of a row, and the hapless streaker could have chosen a better moment for his run. As the commentator notes, Symonds also works out with a professional rugby team and, as he doesn't note, has a reputation for being, well, kind of a jock.
If you've had a view of cricket as a genteel game played by some la-di-da chaps in white outfits, this moment seems terribly out of place, but there seems to be a sort of no-holds-barred attitude towards sport among athletes whose nations abut the Indian Ocean. As at least one of my sons saw at an international field hockey tournament, it's possible to play that sport in much the same spirit as rugby, too (I think the team noted there was from Kenya), while I knew a tennis player from the Punjab in college who -- even separated from his opponent by a net -- managed to turn his chosen sport into a theater for physical intimidation.
Anyway, nobody on either team seems terribly surprised by what befalls this unlucky prat, while I thought the utter cluelessness of the announcers and the write-up by the columnist made it all worth sharing.
If you've had a view of cricket as a genteel game played by some la-di-da chaps in white outfits, this moment seems terribly out of place, but there seems to be a sort of no-holds-barred attitude towards sport among athletes whose nations abut the Indian Ocean. As at least one of my sons saw at an international field hockey tournament, it's possible to play that sport in much the same spirit as rugby, too (I think the team noted there was from Kenya), while I knew a tennis player from the Punjab in college who -- even separated from his opponent by a net -- managed to turn his chosen sport into a theater for physical intimidation.
Anyway, nobody on either team seems terribly surprised by what befalls this unlucky prat, while I thought the utter cluelessness of the announcers and the write-up by the columnist made it all worth sharing.
This is very funny - is it cruel of me to say so? The take-down is so classic.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, a friend of mine from India told me recently that she thought the US primary voting reminded her a lot of cricket, of which she is a fan: "Everyone is very interested and wound up about it, in spite of the fact that nobody is quite sure what is going on, and everyone watching has a different perception of the situation at any given moment, and each person thinks his perception is the correct analysis of the situation. And after it's all over, sometimes you're not at all sure what just happened, there."