Oh no, the darkies are taking over!

This may not immediately interest you if you don't have an interest in cricket. Still, I think it's worth noting. Today's SMH reports on the daunting power of the Indian cricket board in determining team schedules. The report paints a picture of alarm - of decaying professional standards ('they', the 'Asian bloc' nations, were able to change the bowling laws so that Murali can lawfully chuck a cricket ball) and a loss of Australian sovereignty (our cricketers could potentially be forced to play in a different country on Boxing Day, the holiest day in the Australian cricketing calendar).

It's this sort of shite that reminds me that for many, Australian cricket is still a bastion of the White Australia myth. To the white supremecists, Australia's cricketing supremecy is a bright beacon of the white Aussie male's virility and superiority over the other nations of the old empire. Now this might sound far-fetched, but it's not. Consider that the language of this article is consistent with the theme of loss of control to outsiders (Indian cricket board, Chinese or Japanese enterprise, Arab Australians having more kids than white Australians, etc). But perhaps an even easier way to countenance this is to watch the cricket live, particularly when Australia plays one of the Asian nations and sometimes when it plays the English. It is in this environment that the worst of Australia's beered up, jingoistic yobbos find it necessary to hurl an untold number of obscenities on the opposition and their supporters in the crowd.

It's worth noting that I am not talking here about EVERY white Australian, or every white Australian at the cricket. Or, indeed, that these people are all white Australians (whatever that actually means!). I only wish to point out that there is a large segment of the viewing public who happily if unconsciously fit into this stereotype. Rather than being a refuge from politics and prejudice, sport is often a mirror which reflects the best and worst in our nature.