Cricket Australia has frequently come under the ire for projecting themselves as the guardian of Spirit of cricket while committing most heinous acts in cricket on the field. Be it their sledging covered under the holy name of ‘Mental disintegration’ or bullying the umpires to get the decision in their favor. From bowling under-arm to shining it with the sandpaper, Australia has been there and done that. Some of their recent moves have again showcased the dual face of Cricket Australia.
India is scheduled to tour Australia later in the year. The subcontinental nation is yet to win a Test series in Australia. This season brings them the best chance to achieve this feat with Australia missing out on their best batsmen in David Warner and Steven Smith. The Indian team will be playing in a series comprising of Four Tests.
One of the traditions that have been established since last few years in Australia is that of playing the Day-Night Test. Adelaide has been the venue for these pink ball Tests and they have brought a new flavor in Cricket. The constant in these matches though has been the victory of the Australian team.
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As is the norm, Australia asked India to play the first Test match of the series as a day-night Test since opposition’s consent is necessary for staging such a game. India citing the under preparation of pink ball cricket refused to agree and Australia had to bite the bullet. Many Australians including the former Australian Captain and commentator Ian Chappell criticised India for this and their bullish attitude. He added that India is not acting in the interest of Test cricket.
At the same time of this article going to press, another news regarding Australian cricket came out. This was about hosting the Test series against Bangladesh. These two nations have played very less Test cricket with each other due to the enormous gap of standards. The gap has been narrowing since past few years and Bangladesh have defeated Australia in a Test also.
Despite the progress of Bangladesh in Test cricket in recent years, Australia declined to host them. The reason given was that the events such as AFL (Football) and NRL (Rugby) will be going on then and that makes the series commercially non-viable. Austrailia on their behalf called off the series.
ALSO READ: Cricket Australia cancels hosting Bangladesh: Report
Bangladesh Cricket Board obviously took an exception for that and immediately sent a counterproposal to Cricket Australia. The island nation is yet to respond to that. BCB CEO said,”It is unfortunate on the part of the member [CA] not to fulfill that commitment, especially if the reasoning is commercial or financial concerns. We also have FTP commitments that are not financially viable, but we honor those commitments.”
While on one front Australia accuses India of not promoting the cause of Test cricket, they themselves are canceling tours of a nation that is taking strides in Test Cricket. CA needs to polish their brain, without the sandpaper.
