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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Martin Jones -
It is an oft-levelled criticism that England are little more than a South African ‘A’ team. With Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter, Kevin Pietersen, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker, Michael Lumb, Matt Prior, and (until recently) Andrew Strauss populating the England ranks, it can be hard to disagree. But at the end of the day, most if not all of them would consider themselves English.
Strauss and Prior have lived here since they were English; Lumb is of Yorkshire heritage via Jo’burg; Trott came here after representing the South African Under-19s; the rest all came here as teenagers. All of them have made their lives on English shores, and have played most if not all of their professional cricket here. ?There are a lot of English fans who regard them as imposters somehow, second class Englishmen.
<divclass="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px">
Australian born Alex Cusack</p></div>It isn’t just England who make use of “imports”. Irish duo Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack are both from Australia originally. They could be viewed as second-class Irishmen, but they haven’t been. Johnston led the Irish at the 2007 World Cup, and represented them for many years before and since. ?Cusack, meanwhile, made his life out in Ireland. He found work on the Emerald Isle as a carpenter before progressing through the club circuit in Leinster. ?He has lived in Ireland for almost a decade now, has an Irish wife, and has played 69 Internationals for his country.
Scotland have also plumbed county cricket for talents like Matt Machan, Neil Carter, Richard Coughtrie, David Murphy, Rob Taylor and Iain Wardlaw. These players are arguably less Scottish, but why should we bar them from representing the country? Should we not allow Gareth Berg to represent Italy? What about Neil Wagner, who moved half ?way round the world to pursue his dream of Test cricket. Does that make him any less of a patriotic Kiwi? Probably. Does it make him ?any less committed to excellence? Almost certainly not.
It’s not even like cricket is alone with a lot of international players who could arguably be called mercenaries. Home nations rugby has plenty of Pacific Islanders and South Africans manning its scrums; football is littered with tales of rags-to-riches immigrants like Raheem Sterling and Fabrice Muamba. Why should cricket be so special? What makes us different? Is Mo Farah any less British – he’s a Somalian refugee who lives and trains in America. Perhaps it’s time to get off our high horse and accept these players, but not at the expense of developing our own too – indigenous growth is vital for any cricketing nation.
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For this article and much more, check out my blog, <ahref="http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/9/2/12928505/244665835.jpg">The Popping Crease.
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It is an oft-levelled criticism that England are little more than a South African ‘A’ team. With Jonathan Trott, Craig Kieswetter, Kevin Pietersen, Jade Dernbach, Stuart Meaker, Michael Lumb, Matt Prior, and (until recently) Andrew Strauss populating the England ranks, it can be hard to disagree. But at the end of the day, most if not all of them would consider themselves English.
Strauss and Prior have lived here since they were English; Lumb is of Yorkshire heritage via Jo’burg; Trott came here after representing the South African Under-19s; the rest all came here as teenagers. All of them have made their lives on English shores, and have played most if not all of their professional cricket here. ?There are a lot of English fans who regard them as imposters somehow, second class Englishmen.
<divclass="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px">
Australian born Alex Cusack</p></div>It isn’t just England who make use of “imports”. Irish duo Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack are both from Australia originally. They could be viewed as second-class Irishmen, but they haven’t been. Johnston led the Irish at the 2007 World Cup, and represented them for many years before and since. ?Cusack, meanwhile, made his life out in Ireland. He found work on the Emerald Isle as a carpenter before progressing through the club circuit in Leinster. ?He has lived in Ireland for almost a decade now, has an Irish wife, and has played 69 Internationals for his country.
Scotland have also plumbed county cricket for talents like Matt Machan, Neil Carter, Richard Coughtrie, David Murphy, Rob Taylor and Iain Wardlaw. These players are arguably less Scottish, but why should we bar them from representing the country? Should we not allow Gareth Berg to represent Italy? What about Neil Wagner, who moved half ?way round the world to pursue his dream of Test cricket. Does that make him any less of a patriotic Kiwi? Probably. Does it make him ?any less committed to excellence? Almost certainly not.
It’s not even like cricket is alone with a lot of international players who could arguably be called mercenaries. Home nations rugby has plenty of Pacific Islanders and South Africans manning its scrums; football is littered with tales of rags-to-riches immigrants like Raheem Sterling and Fabrice Muamba. Why should cricket be so special? What makes us different? Is Mo Farah any less British – he’s a Somalian refugee who lives and trains in America. Perhaps it’s time to get off our high horse and accept these players, but not at the expense of developing our own too – indigenous growth is vital for any cricketing nation.
*
For this article and much more, check out my blog, <ahref="http://www.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/9/2/12928505/244665835.jpg">The Popping Crease.
More...
) It's a bit more serious for guys like Ireland who might lose cricketers to England.
