Sports Letter: Natural selection

Sir: The changes of tone adopted by The Independent's cricket writers suggest that the criticisms of the conduct of the Australian players have more to do with England's fluctuating fortunes than with the Australians' behaviour. At best sledging is part of the psychological contest between batsman and bowler; at worst, mere abuse. Those who bridle at Australian rudeness should recall the behaviour of Ian Botham, ever keen to play in front of 'convicts'. Martin Johnson's complaint (The Independent, 5 July) that Australian sledging is a problem of 'upbringing' is not only myopic but self-fulfilling: nothing could be better calculated to raise Australian hackles than confirmation of the game's snobbish image in this country. Myopia also clouds the debate over Martin McCague. Richard Williams has dismissed Australian complaints as 'petty ethnicity' (Independent on Sunday, 4 July), thereby undermining the very raison d'etre of international sport: if the principle of selection for a time- honoured rivalry is not to be 'petty ethnicity' could he please come up with another one? Australians are entitled to wonder at the motivation of a player who was educated at the Australian Cricket Academy, and the desperation of England's selectors in choosing an import. Williams' comparison with Balkan nationalism reveals not only his ignorance of international affairs but that he has not asked himself how England's cricket public would feel if they saw young Englishmen wearing baggy green caps.

Yours faithfully,

JACK TURNER

Oxford

6 July