C for cricket - or celebrity?
Dazzling and disorientating, two glamorous front covers from two of this month's glossy magazines show the new, emergent face of Australian cricket. One features the Australian vice-captain, Michael Clarke, dressed in a range of fashion forward clobber, which includes a designer leather jacket and tight, metallic denim jeans. The other features Mitchell Johnson's girlfriend, Jessica Bratich wearing significantly less apparel: a green and gold bikini emblazoned with the Southern Cross.
Both underscore how the culture of Australian cricket is changing, and why the Australians are no longer the outfit they once were. They serve as reminders that the comparative decline of Australian cricket is not limited to the exodus of playing legends but extends to its off-field philosophy and dressing room culture.
The focus naturally has been on the absence of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. But something else is missing, as well: the sheer bloody-mindedness of the Border years, and the austerity and discipline of the Waugh era. But the winning Australian cricket culture been also contaminated by the fripperies of Australia's celebrity culture, as the fear factor has come to vie with the celebrity X Factor.
In this new celebritocracy, Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle are obviously cast as Posh and Becks; Brett Lee is celebrated as much for his Bollywood melodies as his chin music; and Mitchell Johnson achieves almost as much fame as the torso of the 'Men of Cricket' calendar as the tormentor of visiting batsmen. After being sent home from England in disgrace, Andrew Symonds meets the televisual requirements of the age by seeking prime-time, public redemption: a soft-focus confessional on Sixty Minutes.
As Jessica Bratich reminds us, the WAGs - wives and girlfriends - have also come to enjoy a much higher public profile, which is sometimes more Lads mag than Ladies pavilion. In announcing his retirement, Matthew Hayden spoke wistfully of the "brothers of the Baggy Green". But the WAGs have encroached on this male dominion.
Ashes winning captains of recent vintage have sought to reinforce the team's rich cultural heritage. Steve Waugh heightened the veneration of the Baggy Green, a surprisingly recent "tradition," by ordering every player to wear it during the side's first fielding session. Then there have been those graveside visits to Gallipoli and other European battlefields where Australian diggers shed their blood en route to Britain, and the quasi-religious significance of the team song, Under the Southern Cross, which is belted out in the dressing room at the conclusion of every victory.
This high holy ritual became the focus of a dressing room spat at the end of the home series against the South Africans, when Simon Katich took exception to Michael Clarke reportedly wanting to hurry up the singing of the song so he could leave the dressing room. Traditionalists saw it as powerfully emblematic: a clash of cricketing civilisations, in which the old rubbed up against the new. Simon Katich was cast as the preserver of traditions.
Of course, it would be foolish to write off the Australians as a bunch of starry-eyed softies. Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey remain some of the most serious-minded of modern-day cricketers. And the great blonded one himself, Shane Warne, wasn't exactly a shrinking violet on the celebrity circuit.
But there is a strong sense that the Australians are not as single-minded as once they were, and therefore should not be feared to anywhere near the same extent. Ask yourself which one would you rather face. Steve Waugh in his fanatical pomp? Or Michael Clarke in those fantastical designer pants?
We have entered a new era in which Australian cricket has become more metrosexual than macho. More hair gel than zinc cream. More tight metallic denim than conventional baggy green.
I'm 
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What a great pre-Ashes dig at the Aussies. But it contains a lot of truth. Cricket, like most professional sport in Australia these days has succumbed to the celebrity circuit, where sportsmen use their significant media stature to promote their own lines of clothing, restaurants, pubs or other business ventures but then demand their right to privacy if the media asks any other questions off topic.
A lot of Poms would like to read this with delight and so would many Aussies who believe the cricketers are reading all to much of their own publicity. In the Border years, WAGs were not allowed on tour (an ongoing tradition from when teams toured by ship), but it is a bit unfair to say they can't go now, considering players are almost permanently on tour.
But Nick, your blog also highlights how money has corrupted this game. The reason WAGs and fashion spreads are getting more attention is that they sell papers, sponsorship and (apparently) gets bums on seats at stadiums. Money is the same reason that the sub-contintent dominates cricket's administration today in a way I at least think is to the detriment of the sport's best attribute, its traditions!
I know this will open a hornet's nest but I hark back to the last Indian tour of Australia and the Harbijan Singh incident. I'm sorry but Cricket Australia left Andrew Symonds out to dry over that incident and sowed the seeds for his eventual downfall when the didn't back their man. It wasn't lack of evidence that killed that case, it was lack of spine when threatened by all-powerful and financial India.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to plenty of metrosexuals feigning aggression on the field at Cardiff and hope SBS's coverage is as good as it covers the soccer!
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"Cult of celebrity" eh Nick? Two words - Frederick F Flintoff.
But I notice you didn't mention the emerging enforcer, Peter Siddle. Good. The less England knows about him the better. Nor did you ask how many hundreds of runs Phil Hughes has already scored in england over the past few months playing against the same guys who apparently think they can get him out now he's wearing a different shirt... You haven't mentioned A-Mac's tour of South Africa.
Nah what I'm detecting here is jealousy that no england cricketer has latched on to two absolute heart starters as Bingle and Jess Bratich.. (and where was the gratuitous link?? here's one in case you'd forgotten.. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/825618/karate-champ-is-new-wag-queen )
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"Nor did you ask how many hundreds of runs Phil Hughes has already scored in england over the past few months playing against the same guys who apparently think they can get him out now he's wearing a different shirt..."
Hmmm, this would be him scoring runs against the England bowlers who were at that time engaged in beating the West Indies???? It's a good try.
As for Peter Siddle, well the Aussies can big these people up as much as they want, but are they going to replace the 60% of wickets that Warne and McGrath were taking in the last (too many) Ashes series?
For the record, KP's wife is hardly bad looking neither....
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I must say i am constantly entertained by overly eager British sport journalists who like predict every ashes series that the australian cricket team star has finally fallen. Granted , we are not playing as well as in recent years but please, this all a bit overdone is it not? If the english team had actually offered some regular competition in the past years ( um decades ? ) of any note perhaps such cooked up comments may stick better, i find this kind of talk arrogant to say the least. Are cricket starts overtly commercial? um probably but look at football or US basketball, what do you call that? i think this topic may be a lame diversion from the real matter at hand, who will win the ashes .. what belts the players are wearing on their off days or what colour someone's wife's bakini might be is not really that interesting if you ask me.
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Nick, once again an insightful look at things here in Australia.
As a fellow Englishman in Australia I have been amused to see the once formidable wearers of the Baggy Green morph into the metrosexual mob we see today. However, having just taken a bet with a work colleague on the outcome of the series I still doubt I will come out on top!
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i'm an aussie over here for the Ashes. I reckon your spot on Bryant.
on the other side, I've never seen a british media so gee'd up and aggro. treating cricket like football. its all very thrilling, but so new that I'm a bit freaked out by it. I prefer Australia to be the only nation that treats cricket like a blood sport. Welcome England to the new world - first wines now cricket.
PS: Siddle is the new Merv. so angry, so clumsily accessorised, so macho. Rock on son, love the grimace after Prior's stump fell over.
PPS: Wales is very welcoming and a lot of fun. The purists can jump up and down, but Cardiff has turned the test match into a global event worthy of a decent promotional effort. A lesson not yet learnt by Birmingham, London, Manchester to learn yet.
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further evidence Nick - a pending Australian captain with the nickname 'pup'. He is baby faced. Unfortunately not in a mafia way or a boxing way, rather in a, well, baby way.
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Hi there,
I can't relate to these players anymore-whatever happened to the days of Boonie et al smashing 54 VB cans en route to England and still scoring a tonne of runs? Symonds is sacked for a couple of indiscretions which would have elevated him to hero status at home a few years ago and ironically now Watson has broken down again. Who the hell is Hauritz?
I recently read an Australian blogger's comment that 'Symonds was contracted to play for Australia but he's not allowed to act like an Australian' or something to that effect. Fair comment perhaps. Obviously not all Aussies are aggressive binge drinker's, but that aside, there is no such thing as the 'larrakin' anymore. The fun has gone. Not just from cricket, but from the AFL and other sporting codes also, there is an eerie dearth of character, and it won't go away.
The "Pup" and his girlfriend typify the gen Y facade of Australian sport. All good things must eventually come to an end. Unfortunately this is just our time.
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I would love Nick to dedicate a post on the topic of "Why is Australia better at sport than England when the country has nearly three times the population" The statistics are mind boggling especially when you consider the per-capita argument. Imagine if the money, passion and effort that go into AFL were channelled into international sport - England would be even further behind Australia. That is a valid point. Is the sporting ability of a nation a reflection on a better society (better living standards and Australian cities get the most liveable award more then any other nation on earth) havve something to do with it? Can England admit that their former colony has............a better society? Is egalitarianism the perfect blend for a capitalist society....does it go further to stop the greed we saw with the UK banks in contrast to the Aussie banks? Is this mentality a reflection on our sporting prowess? More people get to participate in sport as everyone is seen as more equal? Is there a less emphasis on sport for the lower socio-economic areas in England... the answer is YES.......... England needs to adapt some of the Australian ways to become the power it was. At the moment Australia is going one way and England is going in another direction. That is why Australia will become a republic and independent and our sporting ability is a reflection of how great this country is in contrast to the class obsessed, expensive and over-populated England.
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Netcrusher we get enough mindlessly patriotic competition between Brits and Aussies on Nick's blog without needing to stir it up pointlessly.
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Netcrusher, I think the fact that you even make your arguments shows why Australia is so much better than us at sport. Sport is not so much of a big deal over here. Sure we play, we enjoy it, we get worked up about it, but why bother putting in the effort when you can just get drunk and have a curry?
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In answer to netcrusher's nice little theory: Is the sporting ability of a nation a reflection on a better society? Then we only have to look at China topping the Olympic medals table to see how an oppressive dictatorship without freedom of speech fits your model 'nicely'. Thanks for the tips but we'll (meaning Britain) keep on giving the world some of it's finest actors, musicians, writers and artists while we'll leave you to carry on contributing...errrr...errrr...Harold Bishop and Shane Warne.
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Oh dear, unfortunately celebrityism seems to be invading pretty much everything, including cricket. In a way I'm happy that sport doesn't get the same level of coverage in the UK as Australia - it reduces the celebrity potential.
Good to see that Netcrusher still seems to be delusional, lets see you carry the per-capita argument through to each and every sport, not to mention all other aspects of life. Let's not forget that while the Australian big cities are generally pleasant (if a little characterless) many of the smaller settlements really do require a certain acceptance of the hardships of life. And finally, show me the perfect utopian society of Australia that you describe, and when you're done the class ridden, greedy society that is the UK - I don't recognise either.
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