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'Flippant' Hayden remark turns into big deal
Ponting weighed down by season of issues
Cricinfo staff
February 29, 2008
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Ricky Ponting: "There have been so many things that have been turned into a lot bigger things than they should have"
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Ricky Ponting is frustrated by the repeated escalation of issues involving Australia and India over the past couple of months. Matthew Hayden's reprimand for calling Harbhajan Singh an "obnoxious weed" further strained the relationship between the teams entering the first CB Series final in Sydney on Sunday.
The home players are also reportedly upset by their treatment from Cricket Australia. Hayden's reprimand followed the downgrading of Harbhajan's race charge from the Sydney Test, which was achieved through negotiations between the Australian and Indian boards. A meeting between the Australians and their administrators is being planned and Peter Young, the Cricket Australia spokesman, said it had been a "long and difficult summer".
"It's fair to say that from time to time, even in the best of families, there are disagreements on issues," he told the Australian. "But I think the nine other Test-playing nations would give their right arm to have the relationship we have with our playing group. Part of the strength of the relationship is that we do have the ability to argue about things. We have in the past and we will in the future."
Ponting told the paper Hayden's comments on Harbhajan were an example of how issues have been blown out of proportion. "There have been so many things, with a lot of scrutiny and attention, that have been turned into a lot bigger things than they should have," Ponting said. "It was a pretty flippant remark but you have to understand what you can and can't do. I know that Haydos, when he said that, wouldn't have thought in his wildest dreams that it could have escalated into what it has."
He said Hayden was at Cricket Australia's headquarters in Melbourne until 1.30am on Wednesday night, two days before Friday's match against Sri Lanka. "It's probably punishment within itself because he pays so much attention to his preparation," Ponting said. "It's unfortunate." In the end Hayden was rested from the game.
Hayden said he was "sad" that his employer had to discipline him. "I can see that my comments were insensitive but they were not intended to be denigrating and especially not contrary to the spirit of cricket," Hayden told the Daily Telegraph. "The cricket environment I have grown up with is probably a little bit different from today."
India will fly home over the next week, but the issues will not disappear as the players are waiting to be involved in the Indian Premier League. Australia will also travel to India in October for a return Test series.
"It has been a pretty frustrating last couple of months and not just for us," Ponting said. "The Indians are probably saying the same thing."
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