Anger brewing over boozed up champions

Anthony Colangelo
Mar 30, 2015, updated Mar 30, 2015

“Are you feeling thirsty?” Shane Warne asked Brad Haddin.

“We’re going to have a beer with everyone in the crowd, should be a big night!” the Aussie wicketkeeper said in response on live TV after Australia won the ICC World Cup last night.

That was the first mention of booze in the post-match celebrations and it set off a cascade of beer related quips and references by everyone from Kevin Pietersen to the coach Darren Lehmann, not to mention most of the Australian team.

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Even the official Cricket Australia Twitter account was only too happy to play up the boozey celebrations.

#GoGold http://t.co/Rurg00v0S5 pic.twitter.com/9wTlPKYdhi — cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) March 29, 2015

Pundits took to social media instantly to lament the emphasis on alcohol, with many critical about the message the sport stars were sending to children. Others criticised the nature of repeated questioning about post-match celebrations and absence of match analysis.

While no one was begrudging the team a chance to enjoy their wonderful achievement – a thumping World Cup triumph at home against our regional rivals – there was too much talk about tinnies, according to some viewers. Even News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt was scathing of the coverage, with Shane Warne in particular raising the columnist’s ire. But that didn’t phase the spin king, who hit back at the “do gooders”.

Do gooders get stuffed. Straya is the best place in the world, not politically correct, keep it real. Aussies celebrate properly ! #thirsty — Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) March 29, 2015

In addition to their alcohol consumption, the players were questioned about other matters.

They were asked about the win being a tribute to their late teammate Phillip Hughes and the magnitude of achieving the victory on home soil.

According to some armchair pundits, the problem was the result of getting former players to conduct the post match interviews – people like Warne, Pietersen and even Brendan Julian – ex-players fall into the trap of wanting to be one of the boys again.

“So what’s the plan, besides lots of drink and that. How long is that going to last. Just one night, two nights? We saw (coach) Darren Lehmann say it might last a week. Do you reckon it will go a bit longer than that?” Shane Warne asked Man of the Match and rookie Josh Hazlewood.

“I might leave that up to the older boys,” Hazlewood responded sheepishly.