When athletes become casualties of casual abuse

Perhaps the intention of the crowd is not to belittle, but many believe their ticket allows them licence to say what they like.

The taunting of the Barmy Army took its too on Mitchell Johnson in 2011

The team psychologist was dispatched to see what was wrong with Mitchell Johnson during the tour of South Africa in 2011. “I just want to go home,” he told him.

He didn’t care about his run-up or his wrist position or if his hip was here or there. He was just over it.

The problems had started in England in 2009 where the Barmy Army had latched on to an unfortunate story involving Johnson’s mother and wife. They abused him almost every minute he was on the field. Fans harassed him as he walked the streets and even when he sat with his wife to have dinner.

England’s Matt Prior asked the Barmy Army to keep it up because he could see the Australian was cracking.

“They were ruthless,” Johnson wrote in his book Resilient. “I understand that you cop it as a sportsman from opposition crowds, even your own, but I thought bringing my mum and Jess into it was crossing a line … You can’t stop people, but you wish people had a bit more decency.”

His fragile mental state was exacerbated by poor form on the field and two years later he’d had enough.

Mohammed Siraj chose to stay in Australia when his father, an auto-rickshaw driver, died soon after the team arrived. The bowler was convinced to stay by his mother, who said he should pursue his father’s dreams.

The joy our visitor had on making his debut at the MCG would have been tinged with a profound sadness.

And his second Test is tainted by constant abuse from the crowd.

What must this young man, who has lost his father and is so far from his family, be going through?

What memories will he take from his first Test series in this country?

Sunil Gavaskar said yesterday that when he first visited these shores in the 1970s, Australian crowds were renowned for their humour, but something began to change in the 1980s.

It is not just English crowds or Australian crowds.

South African crowds can be disgraceful. On Australia’s last Test tour there, David Warner’s wife was mocked by fans and officials. Ugly and false stories about Adam Gilchrist’s family reduced him to tears in 2002 at Johannesburg.

In 2007, I was at the ground in Vadodara, India, when sections of the crowd began to taunt Andrew Symonds. At every subsequent game he was mocked by people yelling “monkey” or imitating a monkey.

Ravi Ashwin made some pertinent points after day four at the SCG that are relevant to the experience of Siraj and any young cricketer visiting these shores.

“If I take myself back to my first tour in 2011-12, I had no clue about racial abuse and how you can be made to feel small in front of so many people,” he said.

“And the people actually laugh at you when you get abused, I had no idea what this was about.

“When I stood at the boundary line you wanted to stand another 10 yards in to keep yourself away from these things.”

Ashwin said he found the abuse ugly, constant and belittling.

Perhaps the intention of the crowd is not to belittle or humiliate an opposition player, but many believe the price of a ticket allows them licence to say what they like.

For a moment we need put ourselves in the shoes of a young cricketer visiting Australia for the first time.

Do we want to make them feel as if they never came? Do we want them to feel belittled? Are we happy if they take offence?

Is it a triumph when they are pushed so far they respond?

Kerry O’Keeffe is a man who enjoys a laugh, but he sees nothing funny about abuse.

“I played 24 Tests for Australia. One of the very first questions I get from people is, ‘What’s the best sledge you’ve ever heard?’ Twenty-four Tests as a proud Australian cricketer, and they want to know the best sledge. Grow up.

“When guys get together at a cricket match, it’s game of one-upmanship in the stands — who can come up with the most stinging one-liner? It’s boorish, and you’ve crossed a line, and it may have been crossed yesterday.

“Ninety-five per cent of sledging is unfunny. A huge percentage of it is personal abuse dressed up. Get over it.

“We are more mature than that. We are better than that, and we’ve got to start now.

“The standard of the cricket during this series has been stunningly good. These are two high-class teams, and it’s just the biggest shame that something in the stands is threatening to spoil it.

“It’s what happens out in the middle of Test cricket that should be the yardstick for the game, and sadly with this incident yesterday, it’s been taken away.”

Virat Kohli toured Australia for the first time in 2011-12 and cracked during the Sydney Test. The future skipper flipped the bird at the crowd and was fined half his match fee.

“Racial abuse is absolutely unacceptable,” Kohli tweeted after day four. “Having gone through many incidents of really pathetic things said on the boundary lines, this is the absolute peak of rowdy behaviour. It’s sad to see this happen on the field.

“The incident needs to be looked at with absolute urgency and seriousness and strict action against the offenders would set things straight for once.”

It was Kohli who asked Indian fans to stop abusing Steve Smith during the World Cup last year and was given an ICC Spirit Award for the gesture.

“I’m surprised that I have got it, after many years of being under the scanner for the wrong things,” Kohli said at the time.

“It is part of camaraderie that sportsmen must have with each other. That moment was purely understanding an individual‘s situation.

“I don‘t think a guy who is coming out of a situation like that needs to be taken advantage of.

“You can sledge, can have banter on the field, you say things to the opposition in wanting to beat them.

“But booing someone is not in the spirit of any sport, I don‘t endorse it.”

Australian football has a shameful history when it comes to booing and abuse. The relentless vilification of Adam Goodes drove the dual Brownlow Medalist from the game, but not before he had signalled his distress to those who engaged in the ugly practice.

When it became obvious how much pain it caused him, people doubled down.

You can argue all you like about it not being racist, but good luck arguing it was not a display of relentless bullying and cruelty.

No ticket price entitles spectators to such behaviour.