Stupidity

I've felt for a long time that there was a good chance that the concerns about Australian crowds behaving in an abusive and even racist manner towards Monty Panesar would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The news that he was apparently abused by an isolated spectator during the England game against New South Wales doesn't bring this any closer to reality but does indicate the possibility of further problems down the line. Hopefully the Australian authorities are on top of it.

In the meantime, the person (and I'm assuming it was a man) who abused Panesar deserves the widest possible castigation for his sheer stupidity. According to Cricinfo the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that the spectator had derided Panesar as 'a stupid Indian' and had asked 'What are you doing playing in the English side? You're not English'.

If you ever want to borrow my Playfair, mate, you're welcome to it. It will show that Panesar was born in Luton (Bedfordshire, England) on 25th April 1982 and is therefore, demonstrably (we'll assume Monty was telling the truth when he filled in Bill Frindall's last questionnaire) English. In fact, he's a damn sight more English than one of his team-mates, who was born in Pietermaritzburg, which, last time I checked, was in South Africa.

Not that I'm inviting you to have a go at KP. Best just stay well away from cricket.