This summer’s issue is the overflow of racist taunts and it’s time to stop turning uncomfortably away. South Africa’s players have reported being called “kaffirs” since the first Test in Perth in December and the unwelcome treatment has continued through the current VB Series, resulting in the ICC announcing an investigation into spectator behaviour at Australian grounds. Last week the Sri Lankans were called black c**** in Sydney and Adelaide, although no official complaint has come from team management. Each year the isolated incidents bank up into an account that grows more unhealthy by the summer.

Blaming the South African expats for the troubles is too easy, especially for anybody who has spent a third session in the old hill areas of Australian grounds. These problems are not limited to Australia, but this month it is our problem and the world is watching how we deal with it. A dob-in-a-racist-chanter might be one way, and providing general guidelines on what constitutes abuse might help with the community arrests. (Although spreading the information could make it worse.) There are certainly enough security guards at grounds who spend most of their time popping beach balls and avoiding verbal and liquid sprays themselves. It’s time to spike racism and appalling crowd behaviour so watching the game can be a more comfortable experience.

I have been to cricket matches before, in australia, and the appaling behaviour disgusts me so much that i avoid sitting near crowds of vocal people these days. I've been on many cricket forums here in australia, and there are certain people who are downright racist towards people of indian, sri lankan, and south african decent. Its not just the racism issue, the banter recieved by the aussie crowd is seemingly done to make opposition teams feel as if they dont belong here. So much for a multicultural country.

Racisim is one of the indelible fact of our environment. It will happen again and again until all the humanity evloves into exact look alikes. Please ignore the ignorants. Nobody can do much about it and just go and play the game because that's what 99.99% of us comes to watch.

your right it shouldn't be this uncomfortable. but can anyone tell me when was the last time that anyone felt really uncomfortable watching a match in sri lanka. sure we like to have our fun. but we don't taunt the opposition.The Australians at times have been the exception. but thats merely almost payback for all the torture that they have put us through if and when we tour there, im not saying that all Austarlians taunt the palyers. There are people who are generally disgusted. but from what i've seen though everyone may not join not everyone really cares. the only people who get offended maybe cricket Australia and some journalists. and a few die hard cricket lovers in the crowd.but be rest assured whatever the aussies maybe to the sri lankans. They'll never be racially abused.

I concur with the general feeling esp.with sub continental teams that racism exists in Aus grounds, is excused away as being 'funny' sometimes, not to be taken seriously and basically glossed over by people who should know much much better, present and past players, politicians, leaders of the community(ha!)not one steps up and deals with this tumor.When the shoe is on the other foot(even if its for just a second) Aussies howl, whinge, cry foul, want investigations,etc done all to their benefit tho.No sportsmanship,no decency,puerile and no class pal.

Well I'm an Aussie, and I go for England. People seem quite surprised when I tell them that. And it is because I'm sick of how the crowd behave here at cricket (and some other international sporting events) and how the press here sometimes don't blame the Aussie fans for what's happened (such as the first test against South Africa). The racism issue is a large problem which needs sorting out. Maybe something like the ECB's "Let's hit racism for 6" and "Let's clean bowl racism" campaigns should be taken a board by the ICC, and a global advertising campaign of it might sort things out

As an Australian I find it embarassing to see and hear what goes on. It's not just the racism; there's also the swearing, general rudeness and the idea that 'anything goes' as long as it means having fun. Sadly, alcohol is usually associated with the behaviour, but we don't seem to want to admit that too much. The only way to avoid the problems is to pay the bigger dollars and sit in the stands.

blaming ex pat Sth Africans for that K word is naieve
my wife is australian, whilst i am indian, neither of us is from Africa but even she knew the K word and what it meant
The prime minister stating that there is no endemic racism in this country is also naieve, this in a country that not long ago had many voting for Pauline Hanson for pm.
If 5 people were kicked out of the Adelaide oval for racial taunting the SL players, than how many were not thrown out, and yet again how many were just warned by the security and how many more just escaped being caught all together
Wake up Australia !

Do the Aussie players not set an example to such louts by starting a verbal campaign on opposing teams even before they arrive??

The fact that it's 'just a few ignorant idiots' is all well and good. But the general indifference to this ignorance among the silent majority is what truly offends. I would imagine that if anyone had blacked up and lampooned Muralitharan at any of the english test grounds he'd have been swiftly cut down to size by the rest of the crowd.

I understand that it's just the odd idiot but the entire australian portion of the crowd is complicitly racist if they take only passive offence.

There's a casual attitude to racism in Australia in general that sometimes sees British attitudes to bigotry as 'political correctness gone mad'. Australian cricket could do with a large dose of political correctness at the moment.

Even in today's supposedly globalised and non-judgemental society racism is unavoidable. However, this plus the recent Cronulla rioting leads me to suggest that these are symptoms of a deeper problem in Australian society - something that gives Australia its more insular nature.

If anyone here wants proof for the racist behaviour of the asutralian crowds, just go to www.sportal.com and ggo to the cricket forum there, you will find just as many racist aussies as in the australian crowds

Honestly whats appalling is the 'vast,decent'majority being complicit in racist behaviour - I have yet to see another spectator ask a troublemaker/taunter to keep it down or plain shut up - No excuses here,no where to hide

The crowd behaviour at Aussie sporting venues are pathetic, I was fortunate enough to watch some cricket matches while I was visiting Australia, esp at the MCG (lovely ground btw) but the experience was thoroughly lessened by to me what seemed as the majority of the crowds chanting all sorts of abuse at players and even members of the crowd who happened to support the other team. However I'm saddened to say that this doesn't seem limited to just sport in Australia and I think that "Aussies" in general seem pretty ignorant and culturally insensitive to the utmost. I'm afraid I have to admit that for a so called developed nation, all that is developed is the racist attitudes of its people. Its simply shameful!!

It is my firm belief that a few laughs and a few drinks with mates on the outer at an Australian cricket venue is the best place to be of a summer's afternoon. It can be one of the most peaceful places one can imagine and I have spent countless days in this situation being thankful for my oportunities to experience it. Unfortunately the ugly issue of racism has resurfaced this summer (to soil our national game) and, tellingly, brought with it a media frenzy and a token, knee-jerk reaction from the ICC. The ICC categorically failed to grasp the issue, and in sending an officer to investigate, exposed the fact that they simply wanted to be seen doing 'something'.
The fact of the matter is that these 'racist' incidents are not indicative of an endemic racist sentinemt in Australia; they are simply the actions of a few inebriated spectators sick of not getting a reaction from other forms of banter. These people, sick of questioning the fielder's parentage and having exhausted their prepared insults regarding the player's hair colour simply grasp at the only other insult that can be hurled - ones regarding race.
Being of Indian heritage, my Indian friends and i are often chanted at to 'show us your passport' during Australia Vs India games but oddly there is no malice or ill feeling in the tone of such calls; they are simply a bit of a laugh. The same goes for insults directed at players. During the Boxing Day test this year, the spectators in M13 and 14 consistently called Andre Nel a wanker; yet when he offered to sign autographs there was no shortage of takers. Why would such an event take place if spectators genuinely held racial prejudice against players? Perhaps the real problem Australian Cricket faces is over-exuberance of spectators? This talk of Australia becoming a racist nation is counter productive.
The first change that needs to be made is that of player's attitudes. If you are fielding on the outer in Australia you WILL be abused. Deal with it. If you cant take the heat, after all, get out of the kitchen.

I am not Australian! There is very little racism in any cricket crowd, most offensive comments coming from a few idiots who will offend at any price. Racism to them is a tool, not a belief.

Experience tells me that these idiots are in every crowd!

The racism that cricket needs to deal with is that which has allowed the rules to be changed so sub-continent chuckers/cheats such as Shoaib and Murali are now legally allowed to throw.

Cricket needs to return to a fair, honest game. The game that made cricket the best sport in the world by far!

There is no place in cricket for chuckers, whether Shoaib, Murali, Brett Lee or Mills!

Racism should never be tolerated in sports or at any level. Even if it is a few handful of Aussie spectators, the authorities should have taken the necessary steps to stop them from stepping into any cricket stadium. If someone just writes 'No ball' across his chest, AND paints himself in BLACK, these are very obvious signs of racism, although the Sri Lankan Manager, Tissera has declared there is no racism involved.
It is high time Cricket Australia stepped in to provide the deserved respect to all visiting players.

Chinta
Geneva

There's a difference between a bit of banter ("If xxx can play for England so can I") and something which is downright offensive, casting aspertions on someone's race or religion or going overboard on what was harmless.

I've heard it at local club level and that's what really disturbs me. So much for the Spirit of Cricket.

As a species we might be stuck with racist abuse but we can damn well do something about it. It needs to be addressed by the ICC working with the ground administrators rather than the silly little things they faff about with.

Trying to control what drinks and beverages people bring into the ground is a waste of time and makes the ICC look like obsessive control freaks.

How do the New Zealand security guards who threatened two girls who shared a kiss with ejection and their administrators rate that as a threat to safety and security compared to drunken louts and racist abuse? Or are young ladies an easy target for cowards looking to be macho?

As a society there are and will be tensions and dislikes. People who can't go to a cricket match and enjoy players striving to give of their best without stooping to abuse deserve to be ejected. They ruin the spectacle for others.

The ICC needs to take a stand on this issue. If it has the stomach. And then the ground administrators need to make sure the security guards do their jobs properly.

I have been following the current VB series with much interest, that is the wonderful cricket.

The racial taunting of the visitors and the behaviour of the crowd is deplorable. Seems as though they have come straight out of the cess pit. Could even imagine a bit of a scene from " The Thriller".

It is not just what the spectators say, it is what they do not say. There lies the underlying problems.

Here in the UK the crowds would have put an end to these types of chantings and taunts. It would never have been tollerated here.

When an Australian player refers to the SL players as black c****, what more can I say.

I find it hard to accept that the majority of the Australian "spectators" are not racists. If they were they would have put an end to it by now. They would go any length to help to win a game....

It is a spectator led campaign that is required, not a campaign enforced by law.

Philip Gnana
New Malden
Surrey

If the players focus on their game than the crowd bluff, it shouldn't really matter. The crowd-abuse is common in domestic scene in Sri Lanka, especially in school matches. But the players don't notice them, they play their game. I guess there, the players are more desciplined since they represent their schools, than cash.

I was at the new years test in sydney on the third day. Ricky ponting was batting, i took a seat at fine leg, with one of the nicest sportsman you will meet, shaun pollock was fielding. He was approachable all day, with the crowd having banter with him, and he was enjoying it alot. I was lucky to talk to him for about 3 overs one on one.

Around me there was a multicultural crowd,as we experience here in australia. Naturalised australians,and proud too. I have indian born friends, who love cricket for what it is. We share the common things, we love cricket, we are both humans, i judge people by character and not by skin or beliefs.

When Andre Nel came to feild, yes the crowd yelled out wanker, one man asked his heart rate, he smiled and signed away for the young kids eager to meet one of the characters our game breeds. Not long later the police came to our area of the ground,and were listing to what was been said, Nel never came back to field in the area again, it was not til later that i found out her had been racially abused. I never heard it, but i can assure,that the people round me were enjoying ourselves, if a racial comment was made, it wasnt in english. But i must say, the sooner racism is stamped out of the game the better, but aslong as its not going to stop fans from enjoying the time they get to witness such fine athletes perform, and have the pleasure to talk to them. We are all human

i am an indian and during the 03/04 season i went to sydney and melbourne to watch the test matches at those venues. at melbourne especially, but also at sydney, all sorts of racial insults were hurled at me, admittedly only by a minority. what struck me was the general indifference of the australian public. in all that time there was only one person who came upto and acknowledged that this sort of unacceptable behaviour was perpetrated only by a small minority- that person actually went further to apologize for those idiots' behaviour which he was not required to do. my point is, if the people who are involved in racist abuse are only few, then those who acknowledge that this is going on rather than turning a blind eye are even fewer.

Gentlemen- Its a simple problem. Australians tend to be racist, generally. All good and well trying to protect the game but you cannot eliminate deeply held beliefs. India is playing in Pakistan...hard-core rivals but even then you do not have the same bigotry and religious discrimination. Lets not beat around the bush.

What is rather distressing about the behavior of the aussie crowd,is that the assumption that is out of the blue.But such behavior has existed in australia not only in the stadiums but also within the political and social spectrum. The treatment of the natives, the thorny issue of immigration and integration, along with the rise of ultra nationalism among the australian youth and society is quite evident. When a premier has to come out saying on "australia day" to refrian from abusing other ethnic minorities, that only means that the problem of racism has a far reaching boundary. So the only way australia could deal with it, is by changing how they view the world. And acknowledging, all the people in australia are immigrants of some sort. And anyone thinks one "white australian" is better than a "dark one" or australians are better than their asian or african counterparts, needs a lesson in etiquette along with a lesson in reality.

Australians are on top of the cricketing world, with the global leadership of flair and rich talent should inculcate humility of carrying this mantle in a manner that should bring pride and dignity to the nation.

Alas, it is not to be, team and the crowd have collectively failed in handling the moral pressure of unique title holders of game which is watched by 2 billon people world wide. As if envy of 2 billion people holding Australia in total awe does not bring a big enough a high, the honour alone I think is not awesome enough, and it is not sufficient for some in the nation and the team to act as ‘true cricketers’ of being the best. The problem is that the team itself through their overconfident conduct of encouraging sledging has encouraged an extremist section of crowd that feels that depositing external abuses on likes of Murli is just an innocent form of sledging.

When crowd label SL’s as ‘black c---ks’ in their naive minds it is just a form of extended sledging, if team can do it with success why not them, what goes around comes around finally, the present crowd behaviours are spilled over effect of team sledging doctrine practiced over years as most therapeutic treatment to soften opposition, to the crowds who are great followers of the team discipline and their philosophies they are more than happy to learn the dreadful behaviour form some very rude cricketers. If the team sets its policies of sledging right the crowd shall improve, the ugly head of racism finds its roots in ugly nature of arrogant, brash and conceited conduct of Australian team, for good of cricket it needs top down treatment not the other way round.

Racism is a complex issue and different people have differing ideas on what is racism. Wikipedia describes racism as "beliefs, practices, and institutions that discriminate against people based on their perceived or ascribed race". Political correctness is in itself a form of racism, although its proponents would disagree. Racism happens everywhere against any race, white, black or whatever colour. Australian players are subjected to racial abuse when they travel abroad so it is no different for them than any other team.

The only way to effectively reduce racism is to give people and their comments the credibility they deserve, which is proportional to their level of intelligence. The only way to avoid being upset by racial taunts is to be proud of ones self and racial heritage. Everybody has opinions, unfortunately some people have limited knowledge with which to base their opinions on. Legislation can never make up for ignorance, only education and leading by example.

Getting back on to the political correctness issue, In my opinion, these thought police so called intellectuals are the ones most guilty of racism - they do more to denigrate people of 'disadvantaged' races with one press statement than a tanked up yobbo on the hill would do in a lifetime. Our cultural heritage is full of what these people may now consider to be racism. Some TV shows from the 60s and 70s may now be considered racist ("Love thy Neighbor" and "Kingswood Country") are two that come to mind. In my opinion, the level of racism is proportional to the level of attention given to it by the media.

What should Cricket Australia do - It's doing enough already - giving the issue more attention only makes it worse.
The players - they have already shown their abilities as being in the elite as one who represents his country has achieved much more than some moronic yobbo shouting insults from the hill. Players can earn the respect of the crowd by their on field performances, not by whinging about a few nasty comments.

To sum up - Racism is a fact of life - while it can not be completely eradicated, the less exposure given to it, the less of a problem it will be.

I think that not only does the ICC have to look into this serious matter but also.......the PM of Australia.He is an avid cricket fan and should try to maintain the dignity that once was in Professional Cricket

I blame those "Fanatics". This all seemed to start when those beer swilling saddos started coming to the cricket as a drunken unruly mob. I wonder sometimes if they even know what the score is, as half of them seem to be facing away from the crowd organising drinking games.

I blame those "Fanatics". This all seemed to start when those beer swilling saddos started coming to the cricket as a drunken unruly mob. I wonder sometimes if they even know what the score is, as half of them seem to be facing away from the crowd organising drinking games.

It saddens me that Australia is being singled out in this way. I am Australian, live in the UK and have watched cricket around the world.

I'm the first to admit Australia has it problems with crowd behaviour. I no longer go to one day matches back home for that reason. I would never give up tests though and find that there's usually a massive differnce between the test and one day crowds.

However, let me say, the constant and orchestrated taunting of Jason Gillespie's origins by English crowds last summer ("Where's your caravan?" was sung throughout the Ashes series whenever he went near the ball) and the attitude of many Indian, NZ and South African fans is no better from my experience.

I think you have to accept that, unfortunately, idiots exist around the world and that many live for the mob mentality that naturally prevails when thousands of people are seated in a stadium often brings out the worst in people - not just in Australia and not just in cricket. What about the throwing of bananas onto the pitch in the England v Spain football match last year by Spanish fans? Or the way in which English or German football fans behave when visiting another country?

Interesting to read some of the comments though and see what impact the stupid antics of some Australian fans have had around the world. I might offer the opinion though that some of the people making comments so far may never have been to Australia or may be seeing their own country through rose-tinted glasses.

Unfortunatly the subjects are following their leaders. Now the politicians trying corect it altogather - too late. Remember it was the our own priminister who called Muralitharan a 'chucker' from his comfortable chair. And his subjects are faithfully following his foot-path.

racist comments, as long as no one is injured (physically), are perfectly fine in my book. as a foreigner (Sinhalese) living in australia for a number of years now, i can tell you that "white australians" are among the nicest people around. sure they may be a little insular, perhaps a bit vocal at times too, but then again i have never sought to impose myself as an "aussie"; and so feel no disdain when people jest about my colour or shout abuse at the top of their lungs at the cricket. its all a bit of banter, and a lesson in aussie nationalism. to be honest it's rather amusing to see people come out of their shells about complex social issues (race, nationalism, etc), and all the while without resorting to blows (though it gets very heated sometimes!). if you really detest the behaviour of the "common man", do yourself a favour and move into the "bourgeoise lounge" upstairs, so your delicate little ears wont be mauled.

this topic is inflated beyond belief and just a money spinner for the newspaper men.

racist comments, as long as no one is injured (physically), are perfectly fine in my book. as a foreigner (Sinhalese) living in australia for a number of years now, i can tell you that "white australians" are among the nicest people around. sure they may be a little insular, perhaps a bit vocal at times too, but then again i have never sought to impose myself as an "aussie"; and so feel no disdain when people jest about my colour or shout abuse at the top of their lungs at the cricket. its all a bit of banter, and a lesson in aussie nationalism. to be honest it's rather amusing to see people come out of their shells about complex social issues (race, nationalism, etc), and all the while without resorting to blows (though it gets very heated sometimes!). if you really detest the behaviour of the "common man", do yourself a favour and move into the "bourgeoise lounge" upstairs, so your delicate little ears wont be mauled.

this topic is inflated beyond belief and just a money spinner for the newspaper men.

In many a casual chat with Aussies after they heard about the racial taunts during the VB series they claimed that it is always going to happen and it is a part of crowd behaviour. The players should put up with it is what they say. I say why? One thing many people have to understand is that the words that have been used for racist banter during the VB series are words that many South Africans find very offensive after the effects of apartheid in their country. Please, do not make cricket into a game of politics and race.

An Englishman living in England writes - In case anybody forgets, remember the stick Jason Gillespie copped this summer in Blighty, because of his (supposed) Romany looks and appearance? Racism, or at the very least prejudicial stereotyping, by any commonly accepted definition. This was not just harmless fun at his expense, but much deeper and much more sinister.

I think a huge part of the problem is that austrailans just seem to brush off the incidents. Matthew Haydens comment that they'll "just laugh it off" in reference to possible South African crowd behaviour is typical. He says its about 'Skippy hanging' but we all know what he means - we laugh it off, and so should the rest of you. I just dont think anyone in the cricketing world should lower themselves to the crass aussie standard that have become the norm in australia.

An Englishman living in England writes - In case anybody forgets, remember the stick Jason Gillespie copped this summer in Blighty, because of his (supposed) Romany looks and appearance? Racism, or at the very least prejudicial stereotyping, by any commonly accepted definition. This was not just harmless fun at his expense, but much deeper and much more sinister.

(For those people who think my nationality can cause a bias - I am Indian.)

Now, I hope everyone knows that unruly crowd behaviour is not limited to Cricket in Australia. You can see it in any game in any country - especially when the stadium is filled and when people are allowed to drink beer. While what is happening in Australia is being labeled as racism it is not - it is only unruly crowd behaviour that is coming out in the form of racist taunts. I do not see this as very different from indo-pak matches in Toronto where an Indian supporter was calling Inzamam-ul-haq a potato. Without doubt, racist taunts hurt more and that is why we are having this serious discussion. But if we could eliminate racist remarks and they were replaced by normal taunts we will probably ignore it all together. Should we? What needs to be addressed is unruly behaviour. The problem with imposing some strict rules on the crowd is it will take the crowd away. If authorities are ready to experiment and loose some revenue from ticket sales they should try to make the crowd sit down and watch the gentleman's game.

how do you deal with people whose intellect extends to chanting (Nasser) "Hussain is a ******* Iranian Terrorist"?

(as heard with various other racist filth at the SCG 2003)

Shame on the Aussies and even more shame on those respondents who are trying to brush the overwhelming incidents of racism as just a good laugh!!! Pray, tell me, were the Srilankan players supposed to take it as a good laugh when Darren Lehman screamed 'Black C*&t'??? The hard fact is that there is a strong undercurrent of racism in the Australian society which is now starting to raise its head at an alarming frequency (e.g. beating the Lebanese at the beach). Efforts must be taken by the Australian govt. to eradicate this menace and the international community must make it clear to the Australian cricketing body that such behavior will not be tolerated and repeated offences can and will lead to boycotting cricket at grounds in Australia where such incidents happen!!!

Shame on the Aussies and even more shame on those respondents who are trying to brush the overwhelming incidents of racism as just a good laugh!!! Pray, tell me, were the Srilankan players supposed to take it as a good laugh when Darren Lehman screamed 'Black C*&t'??? The hard fact is that there is a strong undercurrent of racism in the Australian society which is now starting to raise its head at an alarming frequency (e.g. beating the Lebanese at the beach). Efforts must be taken by the Australian govt. to eradicate this menace and the international community must make it clear to the Australian cricketing body that such behavior will not be tolerated and repeated offences can and will lead to boycotting cricket at grounds in Australia where such incidents happen!!!

These Aussies are very proud. I have been there and they look at the asians like aliens.I can tell you if this behavoior continues their teams have to suffer the same fate as seen by Asians of Africans when they tour these parts of world.

If as a fan of an international team, I decide to come to Australia to watch the World Cup - what exactly am I supposed to expect? Aussies may think it is just good-natured banter which is worse, as their education and upbringing has failed to instill in them a sense of respect for diversity. Of course, you can't paint an entire nation with one brush but the silence of the majority of the crowd and even defence of such behavior on this forum, show that there is something wrong. I hope Australia is never awarded the World Cup - I would like to support my team and fly to whever the World Cup is - but not to hear insults and taunts.

It goes to show what Australia would do to win. They are all "whiners" from the players to the officials to the Crowd. And to think that they call them selves civilized. Perhaps they need to get a dosage of what they give and condone then they will realize how it feels. The so called uncivil people to them are the ones that treats them the best, because thie love of teh games surpasses Taunting to get an edge.
The entire Asutralian Bunch are WHINERS...

It goes to show what Australia would do to win. They are all "whiners" from the players to the officials to the Crowd. And to think that they call them selves civilized. Perhaps they need to get a dosage of what they give and condone then they will realize how it feels. The so called uncivil people to them are the ones that treats them the best, because thie love of teh games surpasses Taunting to get an edge.
The entire Asutralian Bunch are WHINERS...

well, the goodwill is pretty much out of the series isn't it? i speak of the india-pakistan test/one day series, which were thankfully this time, shored up on the banks of pragmatic dog-eat-dog sportsman spirit and not syrupy sentimentality. yet pathan was constantly heckled(and the fact that he is a muslim, and a pathan, in the indian team is really not a coincidence) and finally struck by a projectile from the crowd. afridi was potty mouth-on-field, insulting all and sundry from laxman to fav whipping boy pathan to sehwag with impunity. and shoaib's beamer to sachin, almost beamer to dhoni, and subsequent lack of apology all seem to point only to one thing: the goodwill is all over.

While I too am disgusted by reports of racist abuse in Australia, I find it ironic that the South African administration should make such a fuss about it. Let them get their house in order! What brazen hypocrites!
I have been at the Wanderers in Johannesburg and witnessed the homophobic abuse of an English player for hours... Not by a few fans; tens of them. Not once or twice; but all day long. Not 'merely' by a few men who had had a few too many beers, but even young children following their 'example'!
I was sickened to the stomach, and ashamed that I had exposed my young son to such behaviour. I will never again visit the Wanderers!

I live in the US and watch a little cricket. I firmly believe that Australian team and its members come across as racist. While it will be an overt generalization to include all Aussies in this category, but for sure many Aussies lack sensitivity towards racism.
While traveling all over the world whenever I have met Aussies (male or female), I have always felt a little strangeness/unfriendliness in their behavior towards people of other races. On the contrary whenever I have met Brits, I have found a lot of them to be much more open, aware and accepting.

I guess the problem is not just in cricket and seems to be more deeply imbedded in the society and culture. Although Australia is a materially advanced nation, it still doesn’t imply that its residents or citizens are mentally evolved too. With the exception of a few cities (and I have met closed minded people from Sydney too), I believe Australia is still pretty socially unaware and largely unwelcoming of other cultures. It’s the outback thing mate! Either you are white or you are not right!

The Romans had a saying: in vino veritas. I have been to many cricket games since I was a child, and every time I've had fun, but every time I've also seen large groups of people that I do my best to avoid. These groups have one thing in common - they are drunk as skunks. These are the groups that are most likely to make you laugh, and the most likely to abuse you, assault you, block your view, embarass you, and cause offense to others. They are not the majority, but they are not a rarity either.
The drink short circuits their self restraint and consideration of others, and brings out inherent prejudices and the ugliness that resides in every human, regardless of what country they live in.
Are there latent prejudices amongst many Australians? Absolutely. But which country can claim to be free of that? India? Pakistan? Sri Lanka? I don't think so. But turn the beer taps off at the cricket, and you'll see the ugliness go back into the closet where at least the shame of it will be kept from view and others wont have to suffer it.

I am concerned by the comments made by Tinman on February 6.

The so called chucking controversy related to subcontinental bowlers were created by Australia and it's media because they couldn't accept world class performers from third world countries and their batsmen were scared to answer the challenge posed by these bowlers on the field.

Leave it to the readers to judge who are the racists here.

Subsequent research showed how the so called great Australian bowlers were also breaking the existing rules (chucking !!). Hence the changes to the rules. If current technology was available in the old days, you would see how many bowlers would have been breaking the then existing law.

Wake up Tinman. Understand who created this controversy and for what purpose and get on with the game.

I think part of Peter's statement is where the problem and solution lie ... "pretended not to see it".

I have to agree that not all people are bad people - in fact its just very few people.

The situation is worsened when others around these bad guys thing "I didn't do anything wrong and why should I care" or take it one step further "I didn't do anything but its fun to see the action". In this case, if you do not discourage you are actually encouraging such behaviour.

No matter how many security personnel are deployed - they would not be able to catch all the miscreants.

Its only when the overall public becomes more aware and does not entertain or encourage such behavior that the problem would be solved. This does not mean we do not do anything else but I believe this is indeed the major factor to control such unruly behavior.

I live in Canada and visit England every year to watch cricket. I found attending test matches to be an unpleasant experience due to the excessive drunkenness of large segments of the crowd. The final session of the day was especially irritating asdrunken patrons were constantly being ejected. I now attend county matches where the cricket is of a high standard and the crowds are better behaved, more knowledgeable and drink moderately or not at all to better enjoy the cricket. I prefer to watch test matches on television where I can enjoy the match without the distractions.

the first thing i have to say is racism shouldnt be tolerated at all. alcohol is no excuse. secondly some players such as murali and botha will recieve no ball calls from the crowd, because they look like they chuck. the majority of people couldnt care less what a bio-mechanisist in a perth uni has to say. murali should just shut up and stop whinging.

Not too many people in Australia are FOR racism?

Cant any of you show the guts to balance your comments?

It is sickening to see what goes on sometimes. But there are people in all societies that either have agendas or have no idea!

If this is a racist nation, or a nation with a racist underbelly, it wouldnt be a place you'd come too.

Nor would it be a place regarded as the best place to tour by almost every cricket nation.

Keep bashing Australia if you will, whether you're an Aussie tall poppy killer or a new Australian who just loves saying what's wrong with the place you've ended up. Or from a place you think has no racism, maybe Britain! or South Africa, or....

We're generally good people and we play cricket better than most.... at the moment... and even though this side has been past it (apparently) for sometime, I just can't help feeling that people are using incidents of racism as a method of chipping away at us.

Get better at it! .. and you just wont hear the crap that some people (usually young and inebriated)come out with.

Regards, Aussie bashers!

Firstly we have a Prime Minister who has no clue of what's going on around him. It is obvious nobody tells him anything nowadays.

It is not 'the not knowing' that I'm really concerned about (that I figured it's a play-dumb act) - but the callousness at which, with ease he dismisses anything related to him and his supporters.

This is the Prime Minister for God's sake! what is mere society to do? Simple, have a callous attitude towards migrants.

He issued a statement that there is no racism in Australia - "it is a freakin' law!!" (as Dr. Evil from Austin Powers would say)

Hello and welcome to the dark ages of racism - This is Australia of today, we take 2 steps foward and 10 steps back!

10 years from now, I can assure that you will still be reading comments like these and hoping for something to happen.....

Let's start somewhere shall we?

The ICC 'must' make an example out of Australia banning them from all competition for a minimum of 2 years as a lesson, now that will take some doing and balls of steel.

Perhaps this is a job for Superman methinks, not Malcolm Speed!

Racism is not to be tolerated and there can be no argument about that. Having said that, I find the attitudes of some people to be amazingly hypocritical, self-righteous and narrow minded.

It is somewhat unbalanced for people to make a big deal about Aussie crowds slinging personal abuse, but say nothing about the rubbish that Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie etc were subjected to on the recent Ashes tour, and lets not mention crowds in the subcontinent who riot or fill the ground with bottles when the home side looks to be in trouble. Admittedly, those acts are not racist, but surely they are still deplorable. And overlooked.

The most amusing moment for me was when Australia played Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval in 1999 ... I had the misfortune to sit amongst a group of Sri Lankan supporters, and all afternoon I had to listen to one guy (Sri Lankan) sledge Warnie even though he wasn't on the field. When Murali came on to bowl and I yelled out 'No Ball' (not because Murali is black, but because his action is illegal in my view), I got howled down as being a racist by the same people who were yelling out 'Warnie is a fat white bastard'!!

After that experience, the comments by an earlier poster that Australians would never be subjected to racism by Sri Lankans is just laughable and an indication of the blinkered attitude of many regarding this issue.

Let's be realistic about the situation rather than use this as an excuse to bash Aussies, as some seem to take delight in doing. I've travelled the world and while Australian crowds can certainly be hostile and unwelcoming, I find that Australian people display no more or less racism than I have encountered in most other areas around the world.

Australian sporting culture thrives on intimidation, on and off the field. Whilst this approach to winning continues to be glorified and exalted, we can't blame spectators for emulating their heroes. And the players reckon white line fever can be contained! Yeah, sure.

Picking on race issues is just another way of trying to win that intimidation battle. I'm dark-skinned and I get regularly sledged about my colour when I'm batting. If I don't respond to it, they try to find another nerve. If I'm ever tempted to return serve, I'd pick on things that Aussies hold dear to our national identity like being gutless, weak, selfish or lacking courage. What's the point though? Winning a game of cricket doesn't mean that much to me!

The other thing that is true about Australian spectators is their boredom threshold. A $2 beachball suddenly becomes the centrepiece attraction, even whilst Ponting, Lara or Tendulkar are in full flow. They pay over the odds for beer and hotdogs and then reserve their biggest cheers for the Mexican wave. Why are these morons at the cricket? I'd rather watch the cricket on TV these days because I don't have to endure drunken racist taunts (intentional or not) and I don't have to be distracted by Philistines who have no real interest in the subtleties of the game. So, whilst we may not necessarily be racist, we can comfort ourselves with the thought that we've got a truckload of ignorant, ill-mannered people in our midst. Phew, that's a relief - no more need for cultural cringe!

I think no action should be taken against Australia by the ICC. The countries that are facing racism should make sure that Australia and Australian supporters face the same kind of racism when they visit their own countries.

I want to see the Australians abuse the Indian Cricket team at the Gabba and then come to Eden Gardens to play. This is the only answer to racism, give it back. Call them "sons of thieves" like Ian Botham did once upon a time. Once the Australian supporters feel scared to sit in stands in India, Sri Lanka or South Africa they will improve their behavior at home because right now they cannot emphathize with the abused because they have never been abused.

I rarely am embarassed to be an Aussie, but sometimes I find myself cringing when I'm at the cricket. I now choose to sit up in the stands, and I often wonder why people pay reasonably good money to sit at the cricket and drink, apparently oblivious to what's going on on the field.

There's no one solution, people do not suddenly become racist when they walk thru the turnstiles, so cricket isn't solely responsible for "fixing" it, it's a wider problem.

It might seem extreme, but maybe the players should show solidarity and take a stand and say we're not here to be abused, so we won't play. Those, like me, who suffer in silence when idiots around me ruin the day will then say to these louts that they are no longer wanted, and the outcry from people who've seen their game spoiled will make these fools see what they really are; fools.

I think Cricket australia and ICC are to be blamed for this as much as Srilankan board. remember Darren Lehman. He actually had the gall to call the Murali a C***** in Lanka. Granted, that he apologised and was banned for 5 games... Butit doesn't take away from the fact that he harbored racist notions and in the heat of the moment they surfaced.. If he cannot control his tendencies near a pavillion in front of so many people what was happening in the middle far from earshot or away from the microphone can only be imagined. I don't think he shud have just been banned for 5 games.. A life ban was in order.. the authorities didn't show enuf intent or foresight. Such racist notions i beleive are common place in Australia.

After the brawl at an NBA (National Basketball Association) game last season I read an interesting article about crowd behavior at modern sporting events. The thrust of the article was that due to the way these events are promoted and advertised the crowd feels that they are a part of the show. They want to be the center of attention, and the banners and costumes are a proof of that. But this eventually follows over excitement and a general blurring of the limits of where one should stop. Home crowds especially, tend to feel that they are a part of the team and may be their antics can derail the game plan of the guests, which in turn leads to an “anything goes” mindset. I believe its time the organizers and the sponsors realized that in order to get the greatest number of people to come out and enjoy the game, they must clearly define acceptable behavior. Otherwise they risk making the show a freak show, which is attended by loonies. Football has dealt with this issue quite firmly and I think its time cricket did the same whether its racism or over aggressive home crowds.

"Blaming the South African expats for the troubles is too easy, especially for anybody who has spent a third session in the old hill areas of Australian grounds." By even making this reference, Peter English is inferring that expats are part of the problem. This is both unfortunate and short sighted. The "K" word is global--its use not just restricted to South Africans. If anything, expats are generally more sensitive to race relations and tend to be more 'politically correct'. Most South Africans that left pre-1994 did so because they knew that apartheid was untenable and aborrhed the policies of the Nationalist government of the time. And those that did leave, even those that have lived in Oz for many years, continue to support the Proteas. For those reasons, I find it hard to believe that expats are shouting racist taunts from the gallery.

Abuse, banter and racistic comments are prevalent in pakistan as well. The crowd does not seem to be watching the cricket game between Indian and pak as a game rather as a war. They enjoy when pak cricketers throw the ball at indian batsmen, when they irritate indian batsmen thru bantering, sledging, chattering and teasing[afr*d* irritates almost all the batsmen]. these kind of verbal abuse should not be allowed in the field and in the crowd. ICC and respective cricket boards should take necessary action

I think Andy hit the nail on the head; the problem is not racism as such, but general loutish behaviour which takes on various forms and the more shocking it is, the more effective.

I stopped going to one dayers many years ago because of the crowd, who generally seemed to know nothing of the game and would rather be in a Mexican wave than watch cricket. Test match crowds are generally a different set of people (with the exception of Boxing Day) and are usually there to watch cricket.

I remember the World Cup final at the MCG between Pakistan and England. 98% of the crowd were wanting Pakistan to win, and were just as loutish then as they are now. Many of the shouts from the crowd could be considered racist, but they were in support of the Pakistanis wanting them to beat the Poms. And it's a safe bet that when the Poms come back in November it will make this summer look like a queen's garden party.

No it's not race, it's just all Australian larikinism gone way over the top.

The Aussies team especially are a bunch of hypocrits. Thats the kindest way that i can put it.How many people remember that Glen Mcgrath Was above the tolerant limit during the last mini world cup. No one seems to say anything. and to say that if your fielding in the outer field in Australia You have to accept abuse is just plain rubbish. Those players are there to represent their country and play cricket.The Gentlemen's game, not to listen to verbal abuse of a frustrated crowd who take their cue of 'mental disintergration' from their team.

So lets stop the pretense. Sometimes standing by and letting the undesirable things happen is as bad as doing it themselves.

Johnston: Keep in mind that when you talk about the huge number of Australian racists in the crowd, remember that there are more than likely no more than a dozen. And Ruben, what you said is all very well, but when you come across a loud, booze-fuelled yobbo screaming the "K" word at the top of his voice, nothing short of a tyre iron to the back of the head will shut him up. So we should just take the good with the bad, and not let a handful of ruddy hooligans spoil what would otherwise be a perfectly enjoyable experience.

This is a response to Mahesh and summit.

Mahesh, you say that the dignified majority of the crowd should do something about the racist element; but, for God's sake, WHAT? What could the Iraqis do as Saddam and sons gassed, tortured, vanished and terrorised their own people over politics? (fortunately they don't have THAT problem any more.) But by your logic, by not overthrowing a powerful dictatorship, they were culpable for their own destruction.

And as for summit, I picked up on quite a double-standard in your post. "It's in the Outback mate"? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? You think that perpetuating a tired (not to mention blatantly untrue) stereotype is no worse than offensive language towards other teams? Use your loaf.

Calling names based on race is not acceptable. Granted. Us Ausralians are sorry for the few people at a cricket game that did the wrong thing.
Meanwhile I'll watch the cricket. Enjoy everyones company and the atmosphere of 40k people who all love cricket. As for Australians turning a blind eye, well do you police your fellow citizens? If someone calls someone a bad name, do you grab them by the ear and drag them to a policeman?

Let's have some common sense here and have licenced areas that are more expensive seats that non licenced areas of the stands. Cause the beer is the source of evil here. And as for these other countries in asia and south africa that arent racist, would they be letting all the nations of the world populate their land like Australia does? We have more nations in this land than any other... Oh by the way, we are very good at cricket too...

There's plenty of Aussie baiting going on here. Come on folks, let's remind ourselves that racism works all ways. I've been racially abused by others because I am white. I have been the victim of a racially motivated assault. I have heard some extremely nasty comments about one group of non-white people about another group of non-white people, which if they had come from the mouth of a white person would have been slated as being racist.

So no country, no particular section of society is perfect.

In an English city centre recently I had cause to witness some disgusting behaviour from some real idiots, racially abusing taxi drivers, hurling cans, coins and anything else they could throw at them, making extremely offensive comments to anyone they deemed deserving of mocking - men and women.

Some of them had been drinking. Some of them had not. Either way it was inexcusable. But where were the Police? Good question. And this is the kind of behaviour I expect to see from English people when they go to Germany for the soccer World Cup, drunken goosestepping around the place, shouting "Heil Hitler" and generally being a great advert for birth control and a poor advert for England.

Will the German authorities put up with such behaviour? I think not. But the tabloid media here encourages such behaviour.

No group of people holds the monopoly on loutish behaviour. Cricket can help set a good example here. If it has the stomach to.

The hypocrisy of the Australians is what gets me. They were at the front of the line demanding that South Africa be excluded from international sport in the '60s, but don't seem to be able to examine themselves at all. It also interests me that immediately prior to SA's exclusion, Australia's test record against SA read: played 4, lost 4! Coincidence?

There should be signs up around every ground clearly stating that you will be evicted for using racist language. The stewards should then have powers to weedle out the perpatrators and kick them out. This would send a message, and deal with the problem with immediate effect. As has been said, it's going to be impossible to curtail it completely but by throwing out those doing it, solves the problem in the short-term. They will think again too the next time they go to a game.

1) It's just a few people, it doesn't matter/it's unavoidable

It's enough people to cause hurt and offence. That means it matters. And whether or not you think racism can be eliminated, it can be reduced, and so it should be.

2) It's not just Australia

Why does that matter? If there is racism in Australia, it should be dealt with. Arguing that "we're not as bad as Zimbabwe" is ridiculous. Honestly, does Australia want to be even a bit as bad as Zimbabwe?

3) They're wimps to take offence

You don't become an international cricketer if you're a wimp. It's just that some of these issues - a sportsman's integrity, criticised by a primeminister; whether somebody's colour makes them worth less as a man; whether being from a first-world country gives you the right to insult other nations - some of these issues are important, and they're certainly important to the sportsmen, acting as ambassadors for their country, who are insulted.

It is clear that many of the comments here from people who dislike Australians and are not concerned regarding the facts of the matter. To state that Australians see Asians as aliens, as an earlier poster did, indicates to me that the poster in question has had no exposure to Australian society at all.

Perhaps people should make an effort to understand Australian sporting culture. As a South Australian, if I go to Victoria to support my football team, I am made to feel unwelcome at the ground and cop a degree of banter and insults. I give some back, have a laugh and get on with it. I think far too many of the complainants here have been insulted in a similar manner and get upset, thinking along the lines 'they're not talking nicely to me so they're racist' (this is different to actually being racially abused!). This is sport in Australia. We are told so often we have to be considerate and to understand and tolerate other cultures and their differences, how about others accepting our culture and the fact we play sport hard?

Do these people see the irony in themselves applying inaccurate racial stereotypes to condemn Australians?

I am an Indian and was in MCG and SCG when India toured a couple of years back for the test series.

I did NOT experience any racist behaviour where I was seated. We were a big boisterous group of Indians having fun in one section that was adjacent to another big boisterous group of aussies who had healthy fun too. Maybe, we were lucky.

Although, I have to say that if there were any racist comments passed, I wouldnt have been surprised. It is becoming more and more common that Aussie youth (Under 25s)are behaving in a racist manner (sometimes violent as well).

I also dont like the phrase "tolerant society" because this presumes that there are superior races who will have to tolerate inferior races!! Why do the Australians say they are a "tolerant society"? You would like to see a society where everyone is equal!!

There have been a variety of viewpoints expressed here and I have enjoyed reading them but some points need to be countered.

Racism in Australia is endemic in our society. For many years Australians have found targets for their prejudice, Asians especially since the second world war, our own aboriginal people for 200 odd years. In recent times conservative right wing governments here and abroad and a complicit tabloid media have unleashed throughout the western world waves of racism and xenophobia directed against Muslims. This has continued the cycle of ignorance and prejudice and most people who have been to the cricket in Australia would have witnessed this first hand. I know that alcohol fuels some of this but the attitudes of the general public are well and truly inbred and are waiting to manifest themselves, the incidents this season are a result and finally have got some play in the media.

I think Charles Tinsley has the right idea about our casual attitude towards racism and obvious bigotry shown towards foreign players and their supporters. My first hand experiences will back up his statement that in the UK, these actions would be derided by the fans there. The English fans have a great way of using their sense of humour to make a mockery of these fools without resorting to racist remarks. Racist Aussies get on the piss and most of the time have nothing intelligent to say except to act in this way and many of the surrounding people let it happen because they silently support them. Australian hip hop artists The Herd wrote a song called 77% saying that 77% of aussies are racist amongst other things.....I think this figure is quite close to the mark.

I went on Australia's most recent tour of India and witnessed the sub continent crowds first hand. They gave the Aussie team plenty of stick but I never came across one racist, bigoted comment towards our players. They could appreciate the skills of all the cricketers on the field no matter what colour their skin was......especially in Chennai, that is easily the most knowledgeable cricket crowd I have been a part of. As a whole, we were treated as very welcome visitors to India and I would encourage anyone to go there....especially to watch cricket but just to experience that wonderful country, a real eye opener in so many respects.

I believe we really need as a nation to admit to our racist attitudes and start doing some practical things to confront it. We can't continue to ignore these incidents hoping that they will go away, that people will actually develop into the human beings we know they should be. We need to fight these problems with the same way they continue to seep into the mindset of Australians via Rupert Murdoch's and Packer tabloid trash...."Anglo reality, intellectual cavities, Channel 9 fostering prejudiced mentalities" High profile people and big budget media campaigns are a start....admitting our flaws and making some concrete laws to confront the problems....make people responsible for this type of behaviour. But as mentioned earlier, during the Cronulla riots late last year, we still had our prime minister denying that racism was a problem in this country. Head out of the sand people!!

My family are white Europeans who came to this wonderful country after WW2. Due to the prejudices they faced, I swiftly learnt life lessons about racist behaviours and that they are unacceptable. Unfortunately most aussies are not like me, they have not experienced this prejudice first or second hand. They will continue to be complict when it comes to these issues until we have a complete overhaul of our values with regards to race.

As long as the players continue to set the example on the field and in the trash-talking media, the crowds will merely copy what they see.

Australian cricket constantly excuses its excesses by making statements like "it's a man's game". As if being rude, vulgar or offensive is the barometer of modern manhood. "It's all part of the game" is another regular excuse. As if the Laws of Cricket contain any reference whatsoever to abuse and sledging - dinosaurs like me always thought it was about scoring more runs or taking more wickets and honouring the raison d'etre of this once-noble sport.

Not surprisingly, Ponting's latest childish outburst over Phil Tufnell's tongue-in-cheek comments goes to show that we're just a bunch of bullies. We're quick to dish it out but our sense of humour is only evident when we're on top. No wonder the madding crowds mimic their heroes. To clean up crowd behaviour, first look within. Our leaders set the tone and the masses follow. If the PM calls Murali a chucker, the yobbo in the stand merely echoes his views. We may be no more racist than anywhere else - we're just a bit more crass.

The last laugh must surely belong to a South African spectator at the Gabba last week who was being taunted for hours. When the Aussies finally started banging the boundary boards when Brett Lee was charging in to bowl, this witty gent invoked distant convict memories by musing aloud "the Aussies are asking for their dinner"! That may be racist but at least it was clever.

In any crime infested neighborhood, it is just a handful of goons who create all the trouble and keep all peaceful, fun-loving people shut in living rooms. A handful of vociferous spectators do make a difference about the enjoyment, sacredness and the future of the game itself. On a broader view, I guess super powers in all sphere of life tend to become arrogant, brash and intolerant e.g. take US mentality about rest of the world, it lies between others don’t matter to “either you are with us are you are with terrorists”. The other problem comes with super powers is the imitation syndrome which followers try to get into. Australia’s dominance in cricket field over last decade has done clear harm to the softer side of the game which might be seen in terms of number of coaches, physio’s, psychologists they export to the rest of world.. which at some level will change the game to a consistent, clinical, agressive but monotonous, rude, arrogant look. A solution which time may bring itself will be some team breaking the super-power status of the Australia in the game bringing their brash overconfidence to the size.

A kiwi perspective:

I think that generally what is being discussed in many of the above posts as racist abuse at Australian crcket grounds is more accurately described as Australian nationalism. As a New Zealand cricket supporter in Australia the abuse hurled at me is certainly "robust". I can expect comments about sheep shxxgers, supposed low IQ of people from NZ, references to Kiwis on the dole, in short any vague insulting stereotype will do.I will also be subjected to constant chants of "aussie, aussie, aussie" and excessive profanities.

I'm a white New Zealander being insulted by, typically, boozed white Australians. But it is not racism, it is tribal nationalism. I am not one of them so a "fair target". The same thing happens all over the world in my experience although there is no doubt that the Australian crowd are pretty good at it!

I think what has to be realised is that these comments can be adjusted and fired back and will be respected.A lot of what is termed racism is in fact(ignorant) banter, when the vocal ones run out of imaginative sledges they resort to "racism". Not pleasant. but really not as insulting as people may think taking the comments at face value.

If the ACC are going to run a campaign to stamp out racist comments perhaps they could also pay to have some more intelligent banter created. The root cause is nationalism not racism as in skin colour, I am quite confident of that.

Cricket is in fact an incredibly unifying sport as any fan would know who has sat down to dicuss the merits of a Gavaskar, Bradman, Richards or Hadlee with a fan from another country...Let's concentrate on the positive, applaud the intelligent banter and ignore the rest.

So according to some people, the entire population of Australia (presumably only the white anglo proportion) is racist.

And apparently Australia is uncivilised because it was founded by convicts!! (quick history lesson ... that was not all areas of Australia, and was kinda a while ago).

Comments such as these give us a clear indication of the intelligence and agenda of the person making the comments.

Such people should refrain from commenting so we can discuss this important matter sensibly, instead of having to wade through the drivel to find comments that have some relation to reality.

Imagine if a white person was to make a broad, derogatory statement about the entire population of India (as people have done regarding the entire population of Australia).

Racism takes all forms.

I also enjoyed Peter and Rahul's articles and agree with many of their points, and Kurt summed up most of what I wanted to say.

As many of the commentators here have pointed out, there are probably idiots and bigots all over the world in cricket crowds who should all be condemned. As an 'embarrassed Aussie' talking, I find that the problem is that our awareness of this 'reverse racism' absolves us from taking the issue seriously.

E.g. Mr Joe Aussie makes a point when he says that at Indian (or wherever else) grounds a handful of the crowd will also make racist comments towards the white players present. It is Joe's conclusion that is most worrying though, however: 'it happens everywhere, so who cares.'

I think that is a major problem in Australia concerning racism. All we (the indifferent majority) really want is an excuse not to give a shit. This is exactly why the problem CAN'T be reduced to a 'handful of idiots.' In sport as in politics, until Australians learn that silence is complicity, the voice of intolerance will always drown out the voice of tolerance. WE HAVE A PROBLEM. ADMIT IT! AND DEAL WITH IT! That way, if other societies have their own similar problems, why couldn't they learn from us, or vice versa. (I had a problem posting, hope it didnt come out three times.)

Why should non-white test playing nations even send their teams to Australia? To suffer the constant racist attitutes of their commentators, their players, their crowds, their media and even their prime minister. South Africa was boycotted for apartheid. Maybe Australia should be next.

If brown and black crowds really started heckling a visiting Aussie team, they'd be on the next plane out and it would be the event of the year for their media. There'd be no shrugging off just a few louts in the crowd and it would be the end of the "we're so tough even our grannies sledge" attitude.

I'm an Anglo-Aussie and I've only been to the cricket once. As the day wore on groups around me drunk copious amounts of alcohol. There was a direct relationship between alcohol levels and abuse. The abuse was directed at anyone different: fat, short, black, whatever.
I even had my hat snatched off me and had to run after it to recover it. If racism is the motive for all abuse when why was I the subject of abuse and most of the conflicts were amongst anglos anyway. The behaviour of the crowd pissed me off but I think the racist card has been overplayed. The real issue are the hooligans fueled by alcohol.

If Australia is such a racst country they why aren't we seeing a widespread manifestation? Are cars being stolen? are people being killed? are people being robbed? There are plently of countries around the world with ethnic wars going on and racist hate crimes continually being committed. Australia is not as racist as the left wing apologists would have you believe. e.g. Look at Sudan where over 1 million people have died in the ethnic cleansing and Sri Lanka which abuses the Tamils. There may be alot of dickheads at the cricket(probably 1 in 10) but that doesn't make Australia a racist country.

Martin, you're right on the money! I think an indicator of how racist a country is is by the amount of media attention racial incidents draw. I mean, just read all of this! Clearly these are not everyday events. In fact the "left-wing apologists" leave out a lot of things, such as how Australian Aboriginies get free education here (which is a step too far in my books; they're Australian citizens just like me). 10,000 people crossing the Rwanda border and beating each other to death with sticks is barely worth mentioning anymore.