Reader TTS

Malcolm QuekettThe West Australian Legendary former manager of soccer giants Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, once summed up his amazement at the twists and turns of a game with one of

his pithy quotes: “Football. Bloody hell.” As the weekend showed, at times it could be applied to sport in general. Think first of the Ashleigh Barty story. A super-talented kid who walked

away from tennis to escape the pressure cooker atmosphere which came with having such ability so young, she returned from a stint playing cricket to be as good as anyone had hoped. While

holding on to the oh-so-Aussie knockabout character, she has rocketed from a world ranking of 623 just three years ago, to sit at No.2 after her French Open triumph. And then came what could

be the turning point for Steve Smith and David Warner. The pair, rubbed out for cheating over sandpapergate, have served their suspensions and are back in Australian colours at the cricket

World Cup in England. And they have been getting booed mercilessly by the crowds. It was expected, of course, that’s what partisan crowds do — though I’m a confirmed anti-booer. Make no

mistake, when I first heard about the ball-tampering shenanigans which brought them undone in South Africa, I was disgusted, outraged and wanted the authorities to throw the book at them.

But they have paid an enormous price for their brain fades — for which they apologised. And I for one have been back on their side since their bans ended. How marvellous then, that the

super-talented and ultra-fierce competitor, Indian skipper Virat Kohli — who has at times shown a unique ability to rub us up the wrong way — showed such sportsmanship in calling for the

pro-India crowd to get off Smith’s back when the sides met on Sunday. Kohli pointed to the crowd and his Indian crest and encouraged the crowd to be more positive. “What’s happened has

happened like long back, the guy is back, he’s trying to play well for his side,” Kohli said later. “It’s not good to see someone down like that. I just felt for him, and I told him, ‘I’m

sorry on behalf of the crowd’.” I’ve not always been a fan of Kohli, the man. But I now salute him. That gesture went beyond sport. It was an act of just being a decent human being and

showing some compassion. I hope other opposition players can now do similar. I for one will be backing Smith and Warner like never before. It’s time they were fully in from the cold. And

perhaps their return can end as happily as that of Barty. Sport. Bloody hell. GET THE LATEST NEWS FROM THEWEST.COM.AU IN YOUR INBOX. Sign up for our emails