There seems to be a notion getting around following Bollyline or Buckgate or whatever the Sydney test is being known as, that the Australians, in their arrogant boorishness, failed to shake hands with Anil Kumble or the Indian team at the end of the match.
Eg. Chloe Saltau in The Australian 10 January
Imagine how tensions could have been eased if an Australian had broken away from the euphoric victory celebrations on Sunday evening and found Anil Kumble, who had batted valiantly for more than two hours for 45 runs only to be stranded at the end, waiting in the path to the Australian dressing room in case someone felt inclined to shake his hand. No one did.
But I think the first to start this line was Peter Roebuck in the various Fairfax outlets on 8 January
Probably the worst aspect of the Australians’ performance was their conduct at the end. When the last catch was taken they formed into a huddle and started jumping up and down like teenagers at a rave. It was not euphoria. It was ecstasy. They had swallowed a pill called Vengeance, among the most dangerous on the shelves. Not one player so much as thought about shaking hands with the defeated and departing
To these people I refer the following video of the time in question.
The end of the Sydney Test Match 2007
Youtube links can come and go so feel free to source the Channel 9 coverage any way you like. At the 2:20 mark of the above video – or 2 minutes after the fall of the last wicket – please observe that not only are Australians thinking about shaking hands, they actually are shaking hands. In fact every member of the Australian team appears to shake hands with every member of the Indian team.
Now I’m looking for more examples of this falsehood. That may be it – but I doubt it. Spanky is pretty widely read and so I’m sure his little tizzy is being picked up in more places. I therefore request your assistance if you see any to link them here or over at Tony’s After Grog Blog
I will update this post with more as I find them.
Found another one. Rohit Brijnath on BBC World
For example, it seems silly to carp about India’s celebrations after the Twenty20 World Cup victory being excessive (and they were), yet prance wildly in Sydney and gesticulate “take that” to their critics like petulant schoolboys. No one even arrived to shake Kumble’s hand at the game’s end.
And apparently Neil Harvey too although maybe not a direct quote
Harvey was also concerned by Australia’s failure to shake Anil Kumble’s hand at the end of the Test. “I don’t think they are very sporting.”
Venu Bolisetty – Dreamcricket Special Columnist
Anil Kumble was dejected, after having fought for such a long time and not a single Australian came to pat him on his back or shake his hands. They were all caught up in celebrating their success.
Mat Thompson – Fox Sports News
India’s captain might have been correct when he suggested Australia had acted outside of the sports intended spirit. Indeed, forgetting to properly shake the hand of an opponent after a match is not acceptable and indefensible. India’s players enjoyed similar euphoric celebrations after they defeated Pakistan to win the Twenty20 World Cup.
The Geelong Advertiser editorial shameless pillages Spanky’s original call
Anyone who saw Kumble leave the field on Sunday after heroically, but ultimately fruitlessly, trying to save the game for his team would find it hard to argue with him. Despite his enormous efforts in the match, both with bat and ball, not one Australian cricketer went to shake his hand as he left the field and congratulate him on a job well done.
On 13 January we have the Anti Plastic Spanky by Rohan Connoly for Fairfax. It’s like he has been reading AGB. Although he doesn’t realise that the handshakes did go to air on Channel Nine live as they happened.
The Australians did shake Indian hands last Sunday, including those of Anil Kumble and the feisty and the equally demonstrative Harbhajan Singh, as they congregated at the boundary minutes after notching up their 16th straight win.
Sadly, the “time limit” imposed by the self-appointed guardians of acts of sporting chivalry had apparently been exceeded. And unfortunately those all-important cameras were by then trained elsewhere.
Tony Stephens in SMH on 8 January
Yet many Australians will remember their team’s triumphalism at the end of the Sydney Test, when players failed to shake hands with Anil Kumble, after his brave innings. That certainly was not cricket. Players shake hands after games of rugby league, among the toughest of sports.
Amy Remeikis offers a female perspective on the issue, at least she has a qualifier that she didn’t see it- she must have switched off as as soon as the catch was taken.
They may have been seriously annoyed at what they perceived happened on the field, but they showed no humility in their winning celebrations and, as far as I could see, didn’t even shake hands at the end of the game.
Note – All bolds for emphasis were added by me.