Convict
Senior T20I Player
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2012
- Runs
- 19,169
- Post of the Week
- 4
Absolutely, yes.
The Lindt Cafe siege in 2014 certainly turned the vast majority of Australians into a position of at best fear and distrust and at worst hostility towards recognisably Muslim bearded Asians.
Australians are like Americans, They don’t read newspapers and they barely watch TV news and when they do it is local news with one or two international stories only. It’s no coincidence that it was an Aussie - Dean Jones - who likened Amla to a terrorist, and depressingly that is the overwhelming response of the public here. And given that most Aussies’ last exposure to a bearded Asian was a couple of weeks ago when the US military assassinated the leader of IS, the timing of this Pakistan tour is very unfortunate.
When Pakistan toured in 2016, Misbah’s beard was not so bushy, but he was already singled out by commentators here for exceptional criticism and contempt because of his appalling captaincy and because he scored less runs than Mohammad Amir.
I had my hair cut two days ago. The hairdresser asked me my plans for the next month and I told her that I’m going to Adelaide for the cricket. Her face fell. “You’re not going to watch those Pakistanis are you? My husband was watching them the other day. Are you sure that it’s safe - they look like a bunch of terrorists.”
I patiently explained to her that I grew up in England where there are lots of Pakistanis and that they are perfectly nice people who love their families like everyone else. I decided that I’d rather educate her than point out her casual and completely unjustified racism. When I left I thanked her and told her I’d see her in six weeks. “I hope so” she replied. “Be careful in Adelaide”.
This is the main threat to Pakistan tours of Australia. Most English clubs have long-standing links via overseas Pakistani professionals. Most New Zealanders are a lot more liberal than Australians.
But most Australians look at Pakistan’s players and see a stereotype that they barely understand but strongly fear and dislike. And that is the Elephant in the Room in this thread.
Your fantasies grow more pathetic by the day.
Anyone who has actually spoken to an Australian knows that the response you would get to saying you are going to Adelaide is disparaging comments about Adelaide.
[MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION]
Casual racism is a fact of life in Australia. At this year’s General Election the opposition Labor Party lost because it refused to swap voting preferences with the One Nation Party, as a result of which they failed to win a single seat north of Brisbane.
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The Labor Party didn't lose the election because One Nation (got 3% of the vote nation wide). The Labor Party lost because the Labor party has allowed the idea that it only cares about Melbourne and Sydney to entrench itself in WA and QLD - where the Labor party lost 35 - 11 in terms of seats.
In Queensland the Coalition got 44% of the primary vote compared to Labor's 27%.
The number one thing that proves you a liar is this.
The Australian public has no interest in this tour at all. Only cricket diehards are even aware that it is on. You haven't gone about hearing comments about this series because nobody cares about it.
And for cricketing diehards the only discussion point is the Australian batting lineup and the prevailing idea that Australia need to pick some talented youngsters because a home series against Pakistan is the ideal opportunity to boost their confidence by allowing them to score some easy runs.