Triggered: ABC ‘Journalist’ Criticises Channel 9 Cricket Commentary Team
With Australia’s much anticipated Ashes Test series against England fast approaching, most Australians are looking forward to cheering on their cricketing heroes as they compete in one of sport’s most fierce rivalries. The summer of cricket has long been celebrated as a national past time which has inspired an intense love for the game amongst Australians of all ages. Memories of hot summers, backyard cricket matches, and dreams of one day donning the baggy green, are all part of growing up in the lucky country, and it is these cultural experiences which have played such a pivotal role in shaping modern day notions of the Australian national identity. Most Australians cherish these norms, and wish to preserve them for the sake of future generations. Then, of course, there are those who wish to subvert these traditions. Enter the ABC.
ABC ‘journalist’ Emily Clark’s recently published article, eloquently titled ‘Channel Nine promotes commentary team of eight white men, cops it’, argues that Channel Nine’s recently announced commentary team for the upcoming Ashes series, apparently features too many white men. As she explains in the piece, “As we all know, it’s 2017 and recently, Channel Nine thought it was OK to promote this”. Clark, who is seemingly oblivious to the fact that stating it is the current year doesn’t actually qualify as an argument, then appears to lose interest in the headline’s original racial emphasis, instead focussing on the perceived injustice of male commentators being employed to provide coverage of the Australian men’s cricket team. The team, as pictured in the image above, includes the likes of legendary former Australian cricketers such as Shane Warne, Ian Chappell, Mark Taylor, and Michael Clarke, all of whom were some of the best cricketers in the entire world during their prime. Their combined knowledge and understanding of the game’s nuances is unrivalled, not to mention the fact that most of these men are household names in Australia.
It is for these same reasons that the netball commentary team for the Australian women’s netball team is predominantly female. Viewers generally prefer to hear commentary from people who know the game inside and out — who better to offer this commentary than those who once played cricket at the highest level. Furthermore, given that the racial demographics of the Australian citizenry do predominantly skew towards white European ancestry, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people of these racial backgrounds dominate public life. People of Asian descent dominate public life in China because they are the racial majority. As is the case for African people in Nigeria, and also Arabic people in Saudi Arabia. They are the majority after all, and are therefore statistically more likely to have higher rates of representation in roles of prominence.
Employing those who have previously represented the Australian men’s cricket team in the Ashes, in order to provide coverage of this same team competing in this same series, for the viewing pleasure of a predominantly male audience, would not appear to be a misogynist conspiracy to the average person. Alas, the stupidity of an ABC ‘journalist’ is not to be underestimated. This infantile attack on the Channel 9 commentary team is just the latest example of the ABC’s refusal to represent the views of mainstream Australians, despite being reliant on our taxes in order to fund their esoteric brand of gutter journalism. Using the nation’s pastime as an excuse for asserting overused and unoriginal critiques of so called ‘white male privilege’ is nothing short of a disgrace, and should serve as a reminder to mainstream Australians of the immense disdain which the elites hold for the traditions and identity of suburban Australia. This incident represents not just an attack on the game of cricket, but an attack on the Australian way of life.
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