Big-money Aussie cricketers have lost the glow of their predecessors, writes Robert Craddock
OVERPAID. Over-rated. Pampered. Prima donnas. This is feed back from fed-up Australian cricket fans - the same ones who once worshipped the Punters and Pigeons of this world.
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THE Australian cricket team may have moved on from its horrendous pay dispute – the fans haven’t.
The feedback and the fallout of Australia’s loss to an underrated Bangladesh team shows how severely out of favour this team is with fans who once worshipped at their feet.
Players often say they never read newspaper articles when they lose but if the current players want to know what Joe Public makes of their performance, they should tune in to reader feedback comments at the bottom of match reports sent from Bangladesh.
It’s scathing.
Overpaid. Over-rated. Pampered. Prima donnas.
And these were some of the less hostile ones for a loss which, despite all the brain explosions, was not quite the train wreck it looked.
Bangladesh are a feisty, ambitious, improving team. A 20-run loss to them when a man down was a better performance than two disgraceful performances against South Africa last season on home soil.
COMMENT: Self-sabotage left us underprepared
ANALYSIS: ‘Pack of over-paid prima donnas’
What is far more of a worry is the diminished status of the Australian Test team and that a huge number of fans care not a jot for the fact that Australia lost.
Since Australia lost on Wednesday I have heard the same lines at an airport, a coffee shop and at work … “what about those blokes? And they reckon they are underpaid. Fair dinkum. They’ve lost me’’.
Fair or not, perception is reality when you are talking fan support and it is now clear while Australia’s players won the pay war hands down, their no-prisoners PR pitch has exploded in their faces.
Small signs tell a vivid story.
When was the last time you referred to any member of the Australian Test team by their nickname? Or the last time you dropped a “y’’ on the end of their name in a Davey or Patty sort of way?
Can’t remember? That’s probably a sign you don’t care like you did when you were cheering on Pigeon, Punter and company.
Despite the shallow rhetoric spun during the players dispute, you can’t fool the fans.
They have no objection to stars like Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood lining their pockets with big contracts because they deserve what they get.
But when you have plodders like the Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell getting big bucks for being just plain average – or worse – it turns people off.
Bangladesh’s joy at beating Australia is enhanced by the fact Australia found all sorts of reasons not to play them in a single Test for 11 years before this game.
The greatest insult you can give a team is not sledging or belting them – it’s simply not playing them.
In this case it’s pure, inexcusable arrogance.
Opener Tamim Iqbal celebrated his 50th Test this week, a tally which included six each against South Africa and England and four against India.
But he had never faced Australia because they could not be bothered playing him, making this week’s victory too sweet for words.
Originally published as Big-money Aussie cricketers have lost the glow of their predecessors, writes Robert Craddock
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