On a recent episode of The Grade Cricketer podcast, the hosts, Sam Perry and Ian Higgins, tore lumps out of South Africa in a foul-mouthed tirade about the World Test Championship final against Australia. Perry predicted a finish “inside three days” and Higgins, practically thumping the table, said: “If I don’t look at a scorecard and South Africa are three for spit my TV is going through the window.” Cue big alpha chuckles and main-character knee slaps.
I know they were joking, skewering Australian arrogance as much as South African frailty, and that they have built a formidable brand that runs on side-mouthed jibes and hyperbolic bluster. Still, the lizard part of my brain lit up in protest. How dare they dismiss my countrymen? I wasn’t alone in taking offence.
