2009-04-13

Cricket's penis envy?

It's in vogue to bash Bermuda cricket. Perhaps we set ourselves up for it, but it's telling that many of the lead stories on Cricinfo and other sites when it comes to the Qualifiers, isn't about Afghanistan shocking the (non-Test) world, the resurgence of Canada or even the country-vs-club situation with Holland's star player, but it's a lot about Bermuda faltering and failing to advance to the Super Eights.

Yes, the facts have been explained ad nauseam. Some players aren't performing up to a higher standard. And I would agree with anyone who suggests that the Bermuda players may feel a higher sense of entitlement than those from the other participating countries, and therefore probably not as much grit, desire and resolve as others.

But damn, it's overkill. We get it. Yes, Sluggo is overweight. Some of the players may even have made it on reputation alone rather than committment.

Do the contributors to these sites have some kind of jealousy that a small semi-tropical island has managed to compete at the highest level, to get the opportunities to take on teams with over a thousand times their population? Is there envy of the fact that the players and coaches are paid at a better rate than others?

By constantly harping on about how "nobody will miss them", they're kind of countering their own alleged statements.

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