Date:15/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/15/stories/2007101571872100.htm

Sport

Symonds puts ‘racial abuse’ behind him

SYDNEY: Australia’s Andrew Symonds said he was ready to move on after suffering racial abuse from spectators during Thursday’s one-day international against India in Baroda.

The all-rounder was subjected to monkey noises while he was fielding.

“You have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive in the Australian dressing room, let alone out on the paddock,” Symonds was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers on Sunday.

“I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke, but racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket. It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it’s coming from the crowd? Life goes on,” he was quoted as saying.

Warns of backlash

Meanwhile, Symonds has added fuel to his simmering duel with Indians by describing the ongoing tour as “hostile” and warning the team of a backlash when it tours Australia later this year.

Symonds said he knew India was “never an easy place to tour, but I am surprised how hostile it has been.”

The all-rounder said the ICC World Twenty20 winners still had a lot to prove and were set for a searing summer in Australia.

“They’re saying they’ve built up this new Indian team, but we’ll see how much they’ve changed at the end of our summer,” he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Telegraph.

Gamesmanship

Symonds also said fast bowler S. Sreesanth was frequently overstepping the mark of gamesmanship.

“It is fair to say there is not a lot of love between us and Sreesanth. His carry-on in this series has been way over the top. We don’t mind blokes having a go and standing up for themselves, but he has gone above and beyond what’s acceptable.

“Its one thing to play hard and use gamesmanship, but it’s another to overstep the mark and that’s what has happened on more than one occasion with him,” Symonds said.

He added that he was not impressed with the behaviour of the Indians.

“We are not overly social with the Indian team, but I get on well with most of them... there are just a couple of them who seem to spark things. Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh are the ones we are clashing with most.” — Agencies