RevSportz Comment
Over the decades, Australian cricket crowds have earned a reputation for both boisterousness and quick wit. Stephen Gascoigne, or Yabba as he came to be known, frequented the famous Hill at the Sydney Cricket Ground nearly a century ago. His heckling of visiting players, especially Poms, was so famous that he now has his own statue at the ground. “Leave our flies alone, Jardine,” he’s said to have told England’s captain during the controversial Bodyline series. “They’re the only friends you’ve got here.
Such wisecracks have been par for the course during Ashes series. Some 60 years after Yabba’s celebrated quip, a smart Alec in the crowd had this missive for Phil Tufnell, England’s left-arm spinner – “Oi, Tufnell, lend us your brain. We’re building an idiot.”
Unfortunately, the heckling directed at Asian cricketers and fans has often been neither funny nor memorable. During India’s famous Test win at the Adelaide Oval in 2003, an Indian journalist had chicken bones flung in his direction, and was called a ‘Coolie’. In those days, when the Indian community Down Under was miniscule, it wasn’t uncommon for even small groups of fans to be called ‘curry munchers’.
Quite how you can munch a curry is something only a drunk or semi-literate yob could explain to you. But these days, the Indians in Australia are such a visible group that such slurs barely leave a mark. In fact, there is even a Curry Munchers restaurant in Perth. No prizes for guessing what cuisine they serve.
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Mohammed Siraj was always going to be a target for groups of Australian fans. There are few more passionate cricketers, and you only have to look back at his celebrations with the flag last time India were in Brisbane to know how much he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s also a highly skilful operator, who played a huge part in India’s come-from-behind triumph in 2020-21.
From Sunil Gavaskar to Virat Kohli, Australian crowds have tried to rile up the opposition’s ‘face’. Many of the barbs were downright nasty, and prompted a furious response from Kohli on his first tour in 2011-12. Back then, he was like Siraj, with every single emotion he felt writ large across his face. That made him an easy target.
When does the barracking cross the line and become racism? Until and unless someone captures what’s said or Siraj himself reveals what happens during those boundary-line exchanges, it’s unwise to throw words like racism around. For the moment, Siraj should wear the slurs and abuse like a badge of honour.
As with Jardine all those years ago, and Wasim Akram in the late 1980s – “Wasim is a w***er” was a popular chant at the time – these barbs are a sign of fear. If Siraj wasn’t a threat to Australia and their hopes of winning this series, the fans wouldn’t bother with him. That he gets wound up encourages them, and he can expect much more of the same in Melbourne and Sydney. As with Jardine, who left Australian shores with the Ashes, it will be water off his back, as long as certain lines aren’t crossed. We know what they are, and unlike Yabba’s finest one-liners, they aren’t remotely funny.
Also Read: Hostile Gabba could bring the best out of Mohammed Siraj