I'm not naive, I dont expect all verbals to be eliminated. But anything racial, foul language and culturally insensitive material can be targeted.
Assuming the umpires speak the langue being spoken on the field, of course.
If you dont move towards this direction, then the alternative is the other direction. And we all know where that would lead.
Where? Why does everyone assume fights will break out when they haven't for the past 100+ years of Test cricket? People are less considerate these days? Media beat-up in my view, much like how Gen Y'ers are being targeted right now as Gen X'ers were, Baby Boomers before them, etc. Why assume the worst when the conditions for it to occur have existed to a greater degree in the past and nothing physical has happened? Kids and adults in Australia these days are the most heavily educated in cultural awareness and tolerance of any generation in Australia's history, contrary to what the Rudd government is telling us, Aussies are drinking and fighting
less, violent crime has
decreased worldwide, etc. Per capita, people are
less violent overall. No-one is saying it's good, of course, but it's better.
Y'know what's increased? Media, in ubiquity, scope and frequency. Leaps and bounds, in fact. People read the same story on ten websites, see it on 10 news channels and think any given problem is 50 times worse than it really is. So yeah, I thoroughly dispute this notion that we're on a road to violence on the cricket field, despite the rather rampant Henny Penny-ism that exists in this thread and others.
So, solution? In my opinion, there does exist a need for administration of offensive behaviour on the field so, just as in real life, let the person offended raise the concern. The onus on those who are offended by poor language should be to take it all the way to a formal complaint, knowing that a formal complaint is and should be a big deal and will be treated as if a court case (the ICC needs to step up here too). If they're not prepared to do it then, maybe the player concerned should examine just how deeply they feel about it.
Over the years, I've heard/read/seen many complaints about behaviour from players from all countries (yes, Australia too, sometimes more so than others) and it kills me when these complaints are given air time but there's almost nothing in terms of substantiation for them. They're literally gossip. If I have a complaint about the behaviour of a co-worker, the amount of paperwork/arbitration I have to go through is incredible and it should be the same for elite sportsmen. Put up, or shut up. That's the way it works in real life for the rest of us. A claim of any serious sort on the cricket field (racism, etc.) should be judged on its merits and no presumption of any sort should be put forward until the process occurs.
Quality Burgey.
