Hypothetical Question

[Nate]

Is Murali white in the hypothetical?

Stop, you producer of flames.

Surely it doesn`t matter. Does he eat Weet-Bix in the hypothetical?

 

[vic_orthdox]

I would love to think it wouldn't matter. Love to.

 

[Richard]

And a 160km/h bowler lurking in the shadows.

*is dissapointed in Australia`s depth*

I'm not worried about the 160kph bowler, I'm only worried about good bowlers.

 

[Richard]

I would love to think it wouldn't matter. Love to.

In all honesty, the chances are he'd be white if he were born into an Australian cricketing fraturnity, no?

 

[Nate]

I would love to think it wouldn't matter. Love to.

Same dude. But Weet-Bix can make or break a man.

 

[Nate]

I'm not worried about the 160kph bowler, I'm only worried about good bowlers.

Dang nabbit, Richy. I knew that was coming, I blame myself.

 

[Richard]

Dang nabbit

 

[vic_orthdox]

Now, yes. In 10 - 15 years, no. There are a large number of players with sub-continent backgrounds coming through the ranks at the moment. Matter of time before we see an Usman Kwahaja, or a Vinay Parikh playing Test cricket.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Am I correct in saying that Dav Whatmore is the only test player of Asian origin Oz has had? That's pretty staggering really.

Mind you the supply of black English test players seems to have ended with Tudor.

 

[Top_Cat]

Am I correct in saying that Dav Whatmore is the only test player of Asian origin Oz has had? That's pretty staggering really.

Him and Richard Chee Quee are the only players I can think of of Asian extraction to play first-class cricket even. Total disgrace. This is why if Murali were Aussie, he'd be playing grade cricket and no more and that's in addition to the high chance that his action would have been irretrievably tampered with to render him half the bowler his ability suggests.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Him and Richard Chee Quee are the only players I can think of of Asian extraction to play first-class cricket even.

Imran Khan played for NSW

 

[honestbharani]

What if Lara played for India?


McGrath, Gillespie, Warne and Murali to bowl at Sehwag, Sachin, Lara, Dravid and Laxman, on good test wickets like Gabba, Chennai and Melbourne and Mumbai and Eden Gardens.....


*wakes up*

 

[Richard]

Now, yes. In 10 - 15 years, no. There are a large number of players with sub-continent backgrounds coming through the ranks at the moment. Matter of time before we see an Usman Kwahaja, or a Vinay Parikh playing Test cricket.

And Murali is around now, yes?
Good to hear about the Asian emergence, though, very good.

 

[Richard]

What if Lara played for India?


McGrath, Gillespie, Warne and Murali to bowl at Sehwag, Sachin, Lara, Dravid and Laxman, on good test wickets like Gabba, Chennai and Melbourne and Mumbai and Eden Gardens.....


*wakes up*

Hmm...
It's not the case... don't dream, it's over.

 

[Richard]

Mind you the supply of black English test players seems to have ended with Tudor.

And it's seemed to have ended many times before.
There will be a few more black players before all that long.
Indeed - Tudor was the 2nd black debutant (Headley being the other one, Butcher mixed Caribbean and White British) since one-cap-wonder Neil Williams in 1990. Not long before there'd been quite an abundance with Daffy, Lewis, Lawrence and Malcolm.
But mainly cricket is and always has been much a minority sport amongst British black communities, and while that's a bit of a shame because it causes a rather poor misreprisentation of the country, it's not The End Of The World.

 

[wpdavid]

And it's seemed to have ended many times before.
There will be a few more black players before all that long.
Indeed - Tudor was the 2nd black debutant (Headley being the other one, Butcher mixed Caribbean and White British) since one-cap-wonder Neil Williams in 1990. Not long before there'd been quite an abundance with Daffy, Lewis, Lawrence and Malcolm.
But mainly cricket is and always has been much a minority sport amongst British black communities, and while that's a bit of a shame because it causes a rather poor misreprisentation of the country, it's not The End Of The World.

There was a piece about this is TWC a few months ago, which did argue that the number of black cricketers in the CC, and therefore going on to represent England, was much diminished. FWIW you forgot Joey Benjamin's solitary cap in 1994, although that's easily done. Others who appeared in the 80's included Small, Slack, Cowans & Roland Butcher. To be honest, the situation looks very different nowadays, for whatever the reasons, so I'm not sure we will see anything like a return to those days.

 

[Richard]

But what about the 70s, and before? Maybe there were a few (I was going to mention Wilf Slack's name and somehow forgot to mention the great Gladstone No-Neck) in the late-80s but generally there haven't been a large number of black reprisentation, because of the simple fact that outside the West Indian-backgrounded clans (most of whom are based in East London, hence The Oval being a traditional West Indian-dominated ground) there's very little interest in the game down the years, it's not been part of the culture.
Which is a shame, but well - culture is a difficult thing to change.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Dean Headley is of mixed race too, his mum's white; but that's nit-picking.

I think various factors have conspired, a sustained fallow period for the Windies (I bet many sons & grandsons of Caribbean immigrants still follow them as their first team) & the consequent lack of role models to aspire to; the mainly urban working-class concentration of black British communities & the lack of access to proper coaching & facilities; the success of black sportsmen in other fields (Football, Boxing, Athletics & Rugby League are the obvious examples).

 

[Richard]

Dean Headley is of mixed race too, his mum's white; but that's nit-picking.

Well, obviously - but first time I saw Mark Butcher, as with Paul Adams, he looked more pale than dark; Headley it's the other way around.
Not that, I suppose, it matters, but of course Daffy and Lewis are mixed too.

the Windies (I bet many sons & grandsons of Caribbean immigrants still follow them as their first team)

Well, obviously, and I, unlike Nasser Hussain, find nothing wrong with that. I think it's perfectly normal to support India\Pakistan\Sri Lanka\West Indies even if you've never been there and your only connection is that your Grandad\Grandma\Dad\Mum are from the country.

 

[Dasa]

Him and Richard Chee Quee are the only players I can think of of Asian extraction to play first-class cricket even. Total disgrace. This is why if Murali were Aussie, he'd be playing grade cricket and no more and that's in addition to the high chance that his action would have been irretrievably tampered with to render him half the bowler his ability suggests.

Change has to start at school level... I've seen many people having been overlooked because of their background.
Interestingly, I think there are more 'Asians' (subcontinentals) in Australia per capita than in the UK.