Sticking up for which mate, Symmo?

Is it just me, or does anybody else, smell there is something fishy going on with the Symmo/Bhajji episode, in the now infamous Sydney test?

Since when did a pat on the backside, constitute a bad thing for an Aussie cricketer?
THEY DO IT, ALL THE TIME!!!!!

In any other part of the world, patting someone's backside, would be tantamount, to making a pass at that person. Not so in Australia.

Well, to each his own. If the Indian players, hug and pat each other's back, to congratulate, Aussie players, hug and pat each other's butt.

So, in the light of this wisdom, I find it hard to fathom, that Symmo, found it difficult to digest, that Harbhajan, gave Brett Lee a friendly pat on his butt, with his bat. Lee, himself, didnt think much of it.

I can only think of one thing for sure - Symmo, used that as a ruse, to taunt Bhajji. It's a well known fact, that Bhajji is a hot head, and is known to mouth off, not just on the field, but even off it. (Anybody seen the Youtube videos of him mouthing off, at New Zealand's customs officers?)

Either, there was a concerted ploy to rile up Bhajji, to make him mouth off so much, that, he gets reported (and subsequently suspended or fined), or Symmo was acting on his own, to stick up for his mate - not Brett Lee, but his skipper Ponting.

Bhajji was snagging him so frequently, that Ponting was becoming Bhajji's bunny, ala Darryl Cullinan and Shane Warne.

There was a lot of bullshit, that went on in this match, and after it.

But in my opinion, Symmo's 'sticking up for my mate', was the biggest of 'em all.

Post-Sydney Fiasco:

Although, it seems right, that BCCI, stuck it up for one of the Indian team members, Sharad Pawar and his cronies, have shamed India, in the eyes of the world, by their subsequent demands and actions.

If the rulebook says, that, an umpire cannot be changed during a series, then you need to respect that. If Bucknor seems to be a known offender against India, what the hell was BCCI doing, when, the series was drawn up and the umpires announced?

And, threatening to boycott the series, is even worse. As bad as Proctor's judgement was, threatening to quit, is the loser's way out. That was a schoolboy tantrum in my eyes.
The game goes on. It should go on.

Last but not the least, as ugly as the Indian reaction was to the Sydney test, let us at least, keep our criticism fair - leave Gilchrist out of it.

He is a man of unquestionable integrity. I hold his integrity higher than Ponting's.
I have kept wickets myself, in club matches, and if I put myself in Gilly's shoes during that dismissal, there is no way I could tell, if it came off the bat or pad. I would be standing up close, and it all happens in a flash - I hear a noise, I see the ball deflect, and if I collect it, I go up in appeal. It's simple as that, nothing vile about it.

A lot of people, see the replay's from a different angle (from the umpire's end), and ask, 'How could Gilly not have known that?' If only there was a camera angle, from the Keeper's head, or if you had kept wickets, you would know.

And yes, I agree with the others here - I dont understand, what the fuss was about the Australian's celebrations. They won, an improbable win in the dying moments of the game, and they celebrated. I dont think that was ugly at all. To even make a fuss about it, is juvenile, and makes India, look like a sore loser.

Apparently, as Indians, our criticism is swift and severe, but at least, let us be fair, when we do it.