The toxic side to the 'Australian Way': a chat with Jarrod Kimber

In this episode, we chat with journalist, blogger, author, podcaster, vlogger – or in short, the Mark Waugh of cricket coverage – Jarrod Kimber.

We focus on a piece Jarrod wrote last year titled 'The Ugly Australian: the evolution of a cricket species'. He talks about his formative experiences with sledging and hyper-aggression at the club level and how his views on behavior and moral codes have changed over time. No other team treats cricket as a team sport like Australia does, says Jarrod, but they also stretch the limits of what team-mates must do.

Talking Points:

The island that is Australian cricket - with moral codes and 'good bloke, bad bloke' conventions that combine into the 'Australian Way'
Club cricket in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s - when the game was sometimes a violent, contact sport
The atmosphere at Australian cricket grounds in the pre-2000s
The culture of Australian cricket that built up to Sandpapergate
The two sides to Allan Border's legendary quip to Dean Jones in the furnace of Madras in 1986: 'let's get a tough Queenslander out here'
Cameron Bancroft and the demands of young players fitting in
The ruthless punishments handed out post Sandpapergate
How David Warner would have been seen in the Australia of the 1980s
The drinking culture in Australian cricket
The vastly different culture around Australian women's cricket

Participants:

Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber), Patreon 

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee)

Related:

Reverse-swing: cricket's ball-tampering in plain sight - Jarrod Kimber, ESPNcricinfo

The problem with the Australian Line of Control - Sharda Ugra, ESPNcricinfo

Crossing the Line - Gideon Haigh's book post Sandpapergate

Steve Smith's Men - Geoff Lemon's book post Sandpapergate

Man, Manlier, Manliest - Geoff Lemon, The Cricket Monthly

When a tie was a victory for Border's battlers - 81allout podcast with Michael Sexton

Kumar Sangakkara welcoming Shaun Pollock to the crease in the league game of the 2003 World Cup

Warwick Armstrong keeps Frank Woolley waiting - Arunabha Sengupta, Cricketcountry.com

Justin Langer's bail-nudging incident in Sri Lanka - YouTube video

Brad Haddin dislodging the bails before the ball hit the stumps - YouTube video