Sorry I have to disagree in what may well be Mr Pointng's last tour of England the booing has become ridiculous. I cant imagine this treatment being dished out to the other modern batting greats messers Lara and Tendulkar. By all means enjoy your day out at the test, sing for your team have some friendly banter with the opposition, but leave the booing and the other boorish actions on the football field. The last thing cricket should do is try to emulate football. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with football but Cricket is/should be played with much more respect for opposition players and fans.

Football is the pantomime, and cricket is the opera.

I would disagree completely with the 'football emulation' proposed by Henwelder. You go to a football match and the crowd is much less civilised, and to be honest, booing amongst other things, is great for Test cricket, because it adds to the atmosphere somewhat. The fact that Ponting acknowledged the crowd shows that there is still interaction between crowd and players. If the guys can't take a bit of booing, then how on earth are they going to take the 'mental disintegration' that the fielders instigate?

If fans shouting "boo" is unacceptable, then what about players shouting far worser abuses upon the opposition ? Thats the real menace.

Why do you think Ponting is booed or has been booed? He is to be blamed for that. His actions both on and off the field has always ired many lovers of the game. Why Steve Waugh or Mark Taylors were not booed even though they were crushing the opposition the same way or may be even more tastingly. They had a modicum of decency about them.

Booing started in Lords and Headingley, after Ponting's rash comments on Duncan fletcher, whom he called irrelevant. One who does not show respect to other players or former players or administrator(s) does not deserve one.
Ask anyone of current or former players if they agree with what Ponting does. No one will. It's a different matter though with Australian players and public.

Lara and Tendulkar are way... way ahead of Ponting in matters of cricketing skills and public persona. They are respected for their skills as well as decent behavior. Do you get it now?

You may be right in saying that booing may make a player perform less than their best. If it does, all the more reason to stop it. I'd prefer to see the best players showing the best of their skills.

Crowd abuse is in the same class as sledging or 'mental disintegration' - neither of which are highly regarded, and with good reason.

Grand Slam tennis doesn't appear to need crowd abuse to provide entertainment and draw crowds. Let cricket stay as a game where players are respected, and leave the abuse for other sports.

Sorry Henwelder, Ponting is a superb batsman but an unlovable person. The booing has got nothing to do with his playing the game hard, that is perfectly acceptable; it is hise supercilious airs and boorish appealing, not to mention his habit of constantly spitting into his palms, an awful sight especially when the world is grappling with a flu pandemic.

The type of fan behaviour you seem to idolise in football is embarrassing. The conduct of both players and the fans in football these days are embarressing. Unfortunately, yes, many fans are becoming similar to this in Cricket, and perhaps it shows something about your own character that you seemingly idolise this degradation in behaviour. This is not an issue about class and exclusivity but one of humility and pride in ones behaviour. Would I dare suggest that one who endorses the decline in both is perhaps lacking in either?

Yeah, come on, unruly crowd behaviour and abuse of players is fantastic and great for the game .... unless it's perpetrated by an Australian crowd, in which case it is vile, uncivilised and racist, even when there are no racist comments or actions. I'm glad Ponting is just shrugging it off, but I wonder what the outcome would be if his reactions were as childish as murali's, who quite happily denigrates an entire nation for the actions of a few hundred, and threatens not to tour unless everyone is polite. End the hypocrisy!!

So Simon, you and Strauss and the England team are perfectly happy for themselves to be booed continuously when on tour? As for it not being hate or being malicious-this sounds like the same sad rationalization offered by the Indians, after the monkey imitations directed at Symonds in India, that it wasn't racist, just a sign of respect, people having fun. Because how could indians possibly be racist? So how could the English, who of course are gentlemen just being born British, possibly be ugly jerks? So why stop at booing then? Why not legalize throwing rotten eggs and tomatoes as well? I'm sure that will increase the popularity of Tests even more!

I agree totally. Twenty20 brings bigger crowds to all cricket matches, not just limited overs cricket. As T20 expands this sport into new countries, as it will eventially, it's important not to islate these new cricket fans from Test cricket. Rather, they should be welcomed and encourage to appreciate Test cricket as we do. After all, what would be better for the future of Test cricket than more teams, more fans and, therefore, greater global recognition.

Sorry Simon. You couldn't be more incorrect. Booing is not something disagreeable with the Upper Class... it is flatly speaking, for thugs and hooligans. It chars the ears.

I am not the biggest fan of Ricky Ponting the person to put it mildy. But Ricky Ponting the batsman commands respect. I would rather cheer his dismissal with rapturous applause than boo his arrival.

As for the comment sledging. Having played school cricket in India and England, I can tell it is much more of a cultural thing. While I was given far more of a earful while batting in England, I was always clapped into the middle and cheered off... players can dish out what they receive from their counterparts.

Crowds should side with their team rather than rally against the other team!

Simon

You say that "cricket needs to evolve and embrace the new breed of fans".

I want to pick up on the word "evolve". Test cricket is under threat precisely because a bunch of inept administrators are mistaking T20 for "evolution" of the game. It isn't. It's regression.

I'm afraid that these booing fans are just another symptom of such regression. It is, adamantly, not a class issue. Cricket fans are both cerebral and passionate. If Test cricket attempts to emulate the bloated, avaricious, hype-ridden world of professional football by marketing itself at the sort of boorish fan who wants to skip the cerebral part, it's doomed.

I wish someone would stand up and tell the ICC that "new", "convenient", "short" and "lucrative" do not always equate to evolution.

Keep booing him , it sure helped @ Headingley.

Simon, I agree with your comments on booing. I understand, unlike other commentators on your article, that you are not advocating violence or malicious chants at players, as this is wholly unpleasant and unnecessary; instead, adding to the atmosphere of the game, and attempting to bring the best out of the players is what you believe booing will achieve - and I could not agree more. Ponting has already made it clear that he does not mind the boos, and, if anything, it makes him more determined to show the fans what type of player he really is. Only the fragile cricketers who require the utmost respect and silence in matches can play without boos. In many sports, the difference between the top players in terms of skill is very small; yes, some players are leagues ahead, but the difference between Ramprakash and Pietersen skillwise is small. However, mental preparation and dealing with pressures is what sets apart the good from the great, and if booing accentuates this difference, good!

In response to Rusty, I'm afraid you seem to have missed my final paragraph. I quite clearly say, "Only when this crosses the line from banter to abuse does a problem arise", so your example of the atrocious, and clearly racist, chanting Symonds was subjected to is not the same booing of which I speak. Abuse and booing are not the same thing, and it is this common misconception which causes the most problems.

Abhi, I think you're generalising to a dangerous extent when you claim that booing is for thugs and hooligans, and it is - as in any sport - a minority who are such people, while the majority are simply fans who wish to try and get involved in the game, rather than simply sitting back and letting things pass by. An opposition player will find it much more difficult to settle in when there is a hostile crowd, and in the very top level of cricket any advantage is key. Cheering your own side and getting on the back of the opposing team are hardly mutually exclusive, I'm afraid.

Keep booing him, please. Like the other great batsman, it only steels his resolve. There is a reason that nobody in cricket ever sledged Lara, Tendulkar, Kallis, Waugh or Ponting - it only ever made them play better. You can rattle lesser players that way, but it only causes the true greats to lift.

Secondly, the vitriol against Ponting is childish and silly. Criticising him for spitting on his hands? Grow up. People decide they don't like him (largely because they envy the success of the Australian cricket team over the last decade), and find any excuse they can to criticise him.

Think I'm kidding? The Windies in the '70s and '80s were reknowned for their poor sportsmanship and hostile tactics. The series that they drew against NZ was the best example, but their bowlers, from Croft and Garner through to Ambrose and Walsh, used plenty of intimidatory tactics, and they sledged to a far greater extent than Australia ever did. Yet people now talk about them in glowing terms.

Compared to those Windies sides, Australia are angels. This wasn't a secret, either - it was commonly acknowledged at the time. See how we remember the Windies today? That will happen to Australia as well.

We want to watch the PLAYERS influence the outcome of the game - not you. If you want to influence the outcome of a game, I suggest you get some mates together and play a game yourself.

Booing has nothing to do with respect; don't be disingenuous. Nobody outside Oz respects Ponting. I only admit he is a one of the greats through gritted teeth. He is arrogant, and he is a whinger. And feel free to tell him that if you see him on the street or at a bar. But when he is doing his job, shut up and let him get on with it. Leave it to his opposition players to get him out.

Booing once for a single specific event (farcical officiating or players doing something not in the spirit of the game for example) I'll support. But constant booing for no reason is ugly (as is this targeting of a specific player) and should have no place in cricket or any other aspect of life, let alone sport.

Also, read Chappelli:
http://www.cricinfo.com/extracover/content/current/story/317342.html

Test cricket has had booing, and chanting, and singing, and abuse for years (can distinctly remember Hadlee coping a fair amount of abuse on tours of Australia in the 80s). The Sydney hill had a reputation going back at least as far as the 1930s (the days of the Yabba - who surely wasn't alone). Even though I am one of many who don't like hearing it, there is no way that booing could ever be banned, short of locking everyone out of the stadium. Sounds like the gin-soaked ramblings of some retired major. Message for the crowd, boo quietly, you are waking the members up.

ps. "Test Cricket is widely believed to be on the decline..." really? I grew up watching test cricket in the 80s, when it was painful to watch (the England tour to NZ in '87 and the Pakistan tour to NZ in '88 were atrocious). Compared to those days, modern test cricket is in a very healthy state. Maybe the administrators need to stop standing in the corporate boxes with their backs turned to the field of play.

Incredibly black and white article and responses. In condoning or condemning booing, context is everything. Shane Warne was booed four years ago but there was no big criticism or media debate. Why? Because Warne played up to it. He was happy to be the English fans' 'pantomime villain' and often responded to the crowd's taunts. There was a mutual respect between player and crowd.

The same cannot be said for Ponting. As a batsman, he's one of the best, but as a captain, he's antagonistic, appears to have no respect for umpires and most significantly here, has no rapport with Australian fans, let alone the English.

Clearly, booing can both add to or detract from the game depending on its purpose and who's invovled. Maybe a more relevant question would be why the fanss seem incapable of anything more sophisticated than mindless noise, an accusation the Barmy Army is happy to level at Australian crowds?

I can accept the booing of Ponting as he walks out to bat and when he's out, even though I think the idea that it is all 'panto' and in good fun is a farcical attempt to explain away some quite ugly and unbecoming hatred and envy. The crowd is just reacting to the moment, and they're entitled to do so.

That said, the way Ponting was booed as he stepped up to accept the Man of the Match award in Cardiff was disgraceful. It's fine for the crowd to get emotionally involved in the game as it's happening, but when you can't even applaud a valiant opponent after the game is over then you're just exposing your own inadequacy and boorishness.

Oh, and good post Nathan.

People pay good money to watch cricket, especially in England with average prices of £40 for a days play per person. If they want to boo a player then they have every right too. Whats the point of supporting a team if you can't give the opposition a bit of stick? Since when did all these liberal lefties come into cricket?

I think it would be nice to have New format of 5 days Match
135 overs
135 overs
90 overs
85 + 15 overs

– Declaration needs to give before 6 wickets so respective team can carry over’s to the next innings
– In case if team gets all out then remaining over’s will credited to other team
– Follow-on will be given in the team gets all-out half of the over or half of the runs and they can play only that much of over and remaining play will be carried in next phase of the innings
– Last innings will be 100 overs include mandatory 15 overs

Test matches can be retained for all the teams b/w arch rivals, every year arch rivals will play one series against each other team at home ground.