Originally posted by ainwood
Ah yes... The mark of the truly desperate; having to resort to these types of "jokes", given that they have no other point to make whatsoever.
Oh tish pish posh. The point is that those matches were to us a minor blip that means nothing, and to NZ, the cause of intense joy and rapture that they didn't get beaten. When the expectations are low, which it cannot be denied that they were, the fact that they were somewhat exceeded does put the objective truth of the situation slightly out of proportion: NZ did not win anything in the Australian summer, and played for the draw first.
If success is judged by not being beaten in a Test, and going home second place in the ODIs with nothing to show for it, then there are obviously different standards being employed.
The sheep shagger line was employed to reply to the whinging Aussie line, which is the mark of the truly desperate, as the intention was not for a point to be made or discussed, but rather to get a comment in edgeways.
The end result: The fact that they played 3 draws against NZ and did not win the ODIs has not changed their status as the worlds best in both forms of the game. Twas a meaningless aberration. This is not meant to take credit away from NZ, but to be brutally honest on the issue. The summer was a classic case of one touring side being underrated, and playing very well, and the highly rated one's having the bottoms kicked off the park.
And to our Indian friend, my point is that little Sachin will not be operating in his usual protective cocoon of adulation and worship.
He has only played against the world champions in Australia once during their tenure, and did underperform the sycophantic expectations of most commentators, event though he was quite unjustifiably given Man of the Series. Only once in the West Indies, and one other time against them.
My point? He has yet to really shine against a powerful attack on their home pitch in adverse conditions. And the reaction to the goings on in South Africa, and Deness' quite correct judgement, were a disgrace.
And I think you will find they are WEST Indians. Slightly different.
