Why is pietersen booed in australia

The irony is that most of those who have booed Pietersen's every move are champion moaners on the subject of affirmative action, which Pietersen has claimed drove him from South Africa. They would happily join him in the diaspora if they had the means, or were not bound by career and family concerns to stay put. Clyde Rathbone, the South African-born Australian rugby winger who listed a high crime-rate among his reasons for leaving, also felt the heat of a nation slighted when he toured SA last year.

Similarly, the people who snarled at Rathbone seem to relish telling stories about ever more violent crime - real, invented or imagined. They, too, would pack for Perth if their circumstances were different. Interestingly, the Newlands crowd heartily applauded Pietersen's half-century on Sunday.

Could that be because he reached it after South Africa had taken control of the match? Are there many purely patriotic white South Africans - and the crowds remain overwhelmingly white - who are genuinely affronted by Pietersen's attitude? Not really, no. To many South African cricket followers, "merit" is code for "white", and they harbour a deep mistrust of the intentions and actions of black power figures.

Racism may no longer be the official policy of white South African society, but it still lurks close to the surface and slips out from under the petticoat of public politeness all too regularly. Those sportsmen who have left South Africa without blasting a negative fanfare have been spared the treatment meted out to the likes of Pietersen and Rathbone.

Sydney: Alastair Cook continued his series domination of the Australian bowlers, scoring an unbeaten 61 on Tuesday and sharing important partnerships with Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen as England cut the first-innings deficit to runs on day two of the fifth Ashes Test.

England, which has already retained the Ashes with a lead coming into the last match, is well poised to claim its first Test series win in Australia since Cook played the anchor role in a run opening stand with skipper Strauss, who blazed 60 from 58 balls, and then combined with No.

Johnson, who top-scored for Australia with 53 and shared a defiant run rearguard stand with No. Cook, who is chasing his third century of the series and has already scored more than runs, got a lucky reprieve on 46 when he miscued a catch to mid-on that appeared to give rookie left-arm spinner Michael Beer his first Test wicket.

Didn't think there was Pietersen, whose international career was terminated by the England and Wales Cricket Board in the wake of the Ashes whitewash, has taken aim at a number of former teammates and England officials in his autobiography that was formally launched last week. But he also paints a less-than-flattering picture of Australian crowds that he regularly encountered, such as those who hovered around the practice nets at Adelaide Oval prior to the second Ashes Test after England had suffered a hefty defeat in Brisbane.

While former captain Steve Smith and test opener Cameron Bancroft - the other players punished for ball-tampering - have given media interviews about the Cape Town scandal, Warner has declined to comment publicly. He has avoided media interviews at the World Cup, barring a mandatory comment on-field with the host broadcaster after claiming the Man of the Match award.

Erskine defended Warner's silence, saying: "There is no point talking. What's he going to talk about? Cricket Internationals Australia News.