Sneering at England is immature
DAFFYD, the only gay in the village, appears to be a model for a certain kind of cricket fan in Ireland. Daffyd tries to be daring and defiant in a society that wonders what the fuss is. So it is with some cricket lovers.
They announce their passion for the game, expecting to shock and scandalise.
But being a cricket fan is no big deal now; half the country looked to be familiar with the goings on in the Ashes series.
Most sane people have moved beyond a state of mind that equates cricket with Englishness and so the enemy.
It was a bit dispiriting, then, to hear the reaction on Morning Ireland to England’s defeat.
Presenter Gavin Jennings handed over to the sports news with the line, ‘Let’s start with England losing’.
It is not uncommon for the country’s most influential news show to treat the sports bulletin like a comic interlude but that kind of adolescent, auld enemy baloney would not contaminate a news report on the show.
The Ashes disaster for England is an enthralling story in its own right, and people tuning in to, or even mildly acquainted with what happened in the third Test, might have expected something more than outdated laughter based on old- fashioned prejudices.
For excellence, drama and misbehaviour the Ashes saga has surpassed the Lions tour as a sporting series this year, as the likes of Graeme Swann suffered on and off the field.
There were thousands of listeners to Morning Ireland who had no interest in cricket from Australia, but laughing at England did not improve the bulletin for them or anyone else for that matter.