I never thought that a respected commentator like Peter Roebuck would so openly link national characteristics to performance in sportsperformance in sports. Considering India's performance in Olympics, may be there is some thing to ponder about. Some excerpts:
"It is a nation despoiled by voyeuristic newspapers, obsessed with soccer, driven by desperate nationalism, a nation of cringing monarchists and lager louts leavened by sudden shafts of doomed humour better expressed in the cries of the Barmy Army than in soap operas populated by baleful characters.
....
Australia suffers not from a surfeit of arrogance but servility. At its best, England combines stoicism with a strong sense of social justice. At its worst, it is sniffy. At its best, Australia is democratic and independent. At its worst, it is inhospitable.
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The next step must be to engage the black African community that has contributed so much to British soccer and athletics.
Apart from these players, England has not impressed. None of the others has markedly improved. Faulty batting techniques have been exposed and the pace bowling has been relentlessly wayward.
It is not impossible to conquer Australia. Sachin Tendulkar arrived as a teenager and scored dazzling hundreds in Perth and Sydney. Alas, these Englishmen have lacked the mental and technical capacities needed to meet the challenge."
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