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- Are Australians Sore
Losers?<http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Er/TheMatchReferee/%7E3/48954733/are-austr\
alians-sore-losers.html>
Posted: 13 Nov 2006 07:02 PM CST There were thousands of different
news articles touching on thousands more topics at the end of the last Ashes
series. One that did catch my attention was a Ricky Ponting's complaint
about the umpiring during the series. Ponting reserved his views on why the
series was lost for his Ashes diary (read commercial publication), in which
he apportioned all blame to one man and one ball.

According to
Ponting<http://thatscricket.oneindia.in/news/2005/10/31/3110bowden-ponting.html>\
,
one ball during the second test match was all it took to bring down the
mighty Australians. It was bowled by Brett Lee (sure, he's a decent bowler)
to the one of the best batsmen in the English line-up, errr, Simon Jones.
Billy Bowden's decision to award the batsmen the benefit of the doubt on
that occasion earned him Ponting's ire and the infamous tag of the man who
lost Australia The Ashes.

That Ponting is a
hot-headed<http://thematchreferee.blogspot.com/2006/09/forgotten-already-ricky.h\
tml>

clod<http://thematchreferee.blogspot.com/2006/11/sack-ricky-ponting-immediately.\
html>is
of not news to us here at The
Match Referee (TMR) <http://thematchreferee.blogspot.com/>. However,
we are quite disappointed that the usually irreverent and colourful Billy
Bowden has chosen to shut up
shop<http://www.theage.com.au/news/news/silent-treatment-from-bowden/2006/11/12/\
1163266412845.html>(so
to speak) due to Ricky Ponting's ludicrous comments. For Ponting to
blame the loss of a series on one ball and one man, that too an umpire,
shows his lack of cricketing intellect. Maybe that is why he is such a poor
captain.

Supporters of teams touring the Antipodean isles over the last 15-20
years have become accustomed to having to endure many an unpleasant and
incorrect decision against their team. Although the Australians have
generally been a class above the rest during this time, I am convinced that
their superiority at home owes no small gratitude to those umpires
(Australian or otherwise) who have generously helped their cause time and
time again.

Visiting team and their supporters have been labeled sore losers for
complaining about umpiring decisions, no matter how advantageous they may
have been to the Australians during the course of a series (one Michael
Holding article a few years ago comes to mind). I ask you this, have
comments, like Ponting's above, led you to believe that Australian
cricketers are a pack of wingeing brats/sore losers or is it a classic case
of the winning side making its own luck while the losing side cries foul
play?

I have my thoughts on the issue, however, I would like to know what
you think.

<http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Ef/TheMatchReferee?a=1nycCFeu>
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