As Australian batsmen Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin continued to grind England, the misery for the English continues to rise. But with the world’s much awaited battles between arch rivals is racking hiatus at Gabba in Brisbane, the writer observed a very
interesting phenomenon.
In every sport- that features combating teams or individuals- would need to stand tall and aggressive in front of millions of cameras. They would model in front of the flashing cameras showing the world how good actors they are. And well they sure are, as
the two combatants would be standing either next to each other, or facing each other-looking into each other’s eyes, staring deep into them- while the paparazzi clicks away shouting their names and yelling to pose left, right and centre.
The Ashes photo call must have been the same. The newspapers stands were full of the faces of the two captains of the rival team’s who came to strut their stuff in front of the media. They were shot facing each other holding the replica of the Ashes trophy,
the urn.
The media reports that the two captains came to the photo session-c*m-press meet at Gabba stadium with Aussie Captain Ricky Ponting all charged up, dressed in his designer whites with his signature smug grin. However, Ponting’s counterpart Andrew Strauss
came casual with a wry grin without his white uniform.
The Australian media termed the faux pass as the downfall of the England some claiming that it was Australia’s first win even before the clash on the pitch. The English media hit back declaring that Cricket Australia are so desperate to find something positive
for their team that they have lost their minds.
While the English Captain went to change in his whites, Ponting retreated to play with a small boy. The cameras clicked away to capture Ponting’s “sensitive” side as the Aussie captain ruffled the little boy’s hair and gave him some batting tips.
As Strauss finally came down for the showdown, Ponting winked at his counterpart and handed over the replica trophy saying to Strauss that he should be holding this as it does not belong to him with the media people letting out a gasping sound. The newspapers
and blogs were full of exaggerated headlines about this simple small talk between the captains. But it is the Ashes, what can one expect more?
So anyways, both the players exercise their best Ashes expression with the whole angry pouting and slating eye lids.
The observation comes here. What are the captains actually thinking? Are they trying to be plain good actors so that they could have a shot at Hollywood after their retirement? Or are they just being natural in front of the cameras. Maybe they are in contract
with the official sponsors to act in such a way as to contribute to the war hype. Or maybe they are playing the pre-match mind games to make the other person curious about what they are thinking. Or maybe they are not real, they are just two cut out cardboards
of the players?
But the underlying fact is that the players do the same thing every year, once in England and then in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. They have played against each other several times yet they fail to even share a friendly handshake let alone a hug. Both players appear calm
and relaxed in the pictures and it seems as if both are trying to out-do each other to be in control of the picture itself. It surely seems that as the teams have ample practice for the Ashes in the nets, they might have been coached by Tyra Banks to be the
Ashes Next Top Model behind closed doors.
Therefore, the conclusion here really remains the same that the players would be facing off at the Ashes year after year and no one would be able to explain that why the rivals have such tense body language towards each other.
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