Rampaging Roy Slaven revs up Raving Roy Symonds

If you haven’t heard it, have a listen to this (some of the best bits are at the end).

http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/shows/royandhg/blog/andrew-symonds-blasts-brendon-mccullum/20090127-2gpy.html

If there are any guys suited to interviewing a drunken yobbo like Andrew Symonds, they are Roy Slaven and more particularly, H G Nelson. Symonds landed in a lot of hot water over the interview, particularly for calling McCullum a “lump of shit”. When you listen to it, you can see how he walked into it (the statement and the excrement). I’m not excusing Symonds’ stupidity but you need to take things in context.

My tip is that we have seen the last of Roy in his Baggy Green or his yellow and/or green pyjamas. So today’s thought is on philosophy rather than cricket. The ODI cricket in Australia is boring. I’m confident that even if Australia was winning, I’d still be saying the cricket is boring. I might be in a better mood, but I doubt that I would be inspired to watch more cricket.

My question is, how much of a role model is a person to be, if they are to represent their country at their chosen sport? For a start, it depends on the exposure of that sport. If it’s ten pin bowling, I’d argue nobody much cares. Does Symonds need to be a saint to be allowed to play cricket for Australia? He is being selected for his cricket playing ability, not his moral fibre. Does he have to be perfect in all areas of life? It is true that the youngsters out there will look up to, and possibly imitate their sporting heroes. It’s also the parent’s duty to teach their children right and wrong. It is always going to be the case that doing the wrong thing is alluring, and temptations arise from many directions.

Is depriving sport of it’s characters and larrikins necessary? And who is caretaker of the moral fabric of sport? Symonds has a known drinking problem. Yet, there is an ad where a guy in a tutu runs around the block to win a dare and runs into Andrew Symonds… who is walking out of… a pub. What kind of a message does that send? Who is responsible for ensuring that sort of thing does not happen? Is it Symonds’ manager’s fault? Is it the responsibility of the fizzy drink company? Surely not Roy himself!

At any rate, we finally find out what Roy caught when he went fishing instead of attending that team meeting. I wondered at the time because that is the only real way of assessing if it was worth it. For those of you who don’t want to listen, it was “a good mixed bag – barra, threadfin, queenfish and maybe estuary cod”. Probably worth it, I’d say.

McCullum Mania

For those of you who don’t know, Brendan McCullum has been signed to play one game for NSW (please see footnote). It will be the Australian domestic Twenty20 final. And what a furore this case created. A storm in a tea cup.

It is a little unusual and probably a sign of things to come. It certainly reinforces the commercial and mercenary direction of the extra short version of the game. It must be disappointing for the incumbent NSW ‘keeper whatever his name is (not Haddin – his fill in). As Roy points out, a real slap in the face.

Symonds’ words on the subject were somewhat humorous, although I believe he was intending them to be serious. He described the move by Cricket NSW “as against the spirit of being Australian”. I’m not sure what he means. Perhaps Roy is just stating the obvious – McCullum is very unAustralian – he is a New Zealander. If Symonds is referring to the monetary side of things, he needs to sniff some salts. In my opinion, he is one of the most mercenary operators out there.

McCullum’s appearance in the domestic T20 final is not going to erode Australian cricket. The thing that I find interesting is that NSW could spend a lot of money for no return. T20 is very hit and miss. McCullum does have the highest “List A” T20 score – 158. But in the hit and miss of T20, he could be just as easily out first ball.

Also note that in a generous gesture, McCullum will donate his fees to his local Otago cricket club. God bless him.

Correction: McCullum will play more than one game for the Blues. He can play for the Blues in the T20 Champions League (some world wide team thing in India later in the year). That’s if he doesn’t want to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders (his IPL team).