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Sandpapergate Saga: The Stunning Fall from Grace for Steve Smith and 'Australianism' at large

Now that everything is said and done in Capetown against the Aussies, I am feeling a strange kind of sadness. Since the inception of our great game in 1880s, Australia have been the most dominant exponent of it. They are the Gold Standard in world cricket. You are considered worth your salt in international cricket only when you are done establishing your reputation against them. Even when they lose, they are the 'real' team to beat. Their preparation is always meticulous and they are thorough professional. They emphasize upon playing 'hard but fair cricket' and in my experience, there hasn't been a better looking team when the Australians are on the roll.


I remember Kolkata 2001. Harbhajan Singh has just taken a hattrick and Australia were 252/8. Well everybody believed India could roll them over within next 10 mins considering the rampage turbanator was having his hand on. But then Steve Waugh, the 'old leather boot', played one of his trademark rearguard innings. A magnificent hundred and stunning resilience from Gillespie. They got all out on 442. An addition of 190 runs for last two wickets and although Australia went onto lose that match in a barely believable fashion, it still defined one trait of them which John Arlott, the famous British Commentator called 'Australianism'. Australianism is defined as the ability to never give in the face of adversity and always stay upright and strong. Australian teams circa Ponting age have been called 'sore losers'. Before that, no one dared call them anything except for Sourav Ganguly, Arjuna Ranatunga, Martin Crowe, Viv Richards and Courtney Ambrose and that they could talk Australian to Australians was down to the fact that they were themselves part Australian, all of them having a beastly arrogance and swagger in them, not to forget abundance of talent. Now that Australianism is at risk of being extinct for other nations are being increasingly arrogant and Australians are copping a lot of heat. They definitely are the sore losers today for they whinge and whine on pettiest of unsavoury behaviour from opposition. They just couldn't stand the opposition today. Any combative cricketer could rattle them and that's bitterly disappointing.

The stunning fall from grace for Steven Smith strokes another death hour toll for 'Australianism' and I am the least bit happy about it. Ours is a little community with few precious members and when anyone suffers, we must all feel the pinch. We are still mourning the near inevitable death of great West Indian and Pakistan test teams of yesteryears and Aussie or for that matter, any other team must not take a fall. Australianism must survive and so do the great traditions of our beloved game.

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