Archbishop of Sydney

Cricket

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
18 September 2005

The Ashes are lost.  The English have won and their followers are rejoicing.  There were huge crowds in Trafalgar Square.  The Queen sent a telegram of congratulations and so she should have.

There is nothing like a big win after a long drought.

The first duty of any decent cricket loving Australian now is to congratulate the English team on a great victory in a magnificent series.  They deserved to win, were far better than us as it was only our fighting spirit which brought us so close.

Such is the rivalry between the two countries that it can be a bit hard to do the right thing.  By coincidence I had the St. Michael’s C grade cricket team, known as the “Papal Bulls”, to a celebratory dinner for their 2004-5 premiership in the Churches’ competition (the result of a rash promise).  Our chef is an English lady.  When I asked them to give her and the house manager (who prepared a menu of Golden Duck, Roast Aussie Beef, Ashes Brie and Brokenwood Cricket Pitch red wine) three cheers for the English team, the cheers came but they were a bit muted!

This loss marks the end of a cricket era, even if we bounce back quickly.  We should be clear about that.  But before we mull over the causes and consequences of our sad defeat, we should realise what a magnificent run of victories we have enjoyed.  We have been spoilt.

The competition was ferocious with only a few conduct mishaps en route.  But the demeanour of our players in defeat was a model for all of us.

One of the best things about sport (like politics and religion) is that you don’t really have to know too much before you are allowed to express your opinion.  So here goes.

Time has caught up with our team of champions.  I wouldn’t be rude enough to dub them “Dad’s Army” but if the selectors persist with too many of them, we can be sure the English papers won’t resist the temptation.  Age has meant that some players have lost it (at least against the best opposition), that one or two champions are now only good players and that our fielding was below what we are used to seeing.  The captaincy and especially team selection were too cautious.

Without Shane Warne it would have been a massacre; a brave and dignified defeat would been turned into a cause of national shame.

Despite this I (almost) hope he retires.  I want to remember him as the greatest spin bowler in the history of the game, not see him lose his magic and be belted around the ground by second raters.  And, more importantly, I would like to see him as successful in helping bring up his children as he has been as a cricketer.

Cricket is a great game, but still only a game.