By IANS
Sydney : Former Australian coach John Buchanan asked whether “monkey”, the term allegedly used by Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to address Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, is racist.
“When I was growing up as a young fella, ‘you little monkey’ was a common colloquial reference for all children due to our ability to be a bit cheeky at times,” Buchanan wrote in his column on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) website Wednesday.
“Now, it is a racist term. How the world changes – still that is not really the issue.”
Buchanan also said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) was threatening the future of the game by bowing to the demands of India in the aftermath of the second Test in Sydney.
He said that the ICC showed lack of leadership by bowing to the pressure of the Indian cricket board and sacked umpire Steve Bucknor for the third Test at Perth next week.
“It is my view that the ICC with their approach and decisions has failed to show the leadership that world cricket requires,” Buchanan wrote in his column.
“Through their actions or inactions, they are threatening the future of the game. While I do not honestly think the game’s longevity is at issue, cricket’s ability to ‘shoot itself in the foot’ has once again been admirably displayed.
“Through the advent of the Twenty20 game format, cricket has only recently lurched from the debacle of the World Cup final, the mishandling of the (Bob) Woolmer death and the inglorious debate about Murali, the world’s greatest wicket-taker,” he said.