Ben Dorries, Robyn Ironside
The Courier-Mail
December 06, 2013England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Giles Clarke is moaning that the world-famous Gabba crowd crippled his team with their chants and barracking for the triumphant Aussies, and now wants the iconic ground dropped from future Ashes.
But a trio of Queensland cricket legends say the "precious'' Poms need to harden up and Brisbane should get top marks for making the old enemy feel unwelcome.
Former Queensland captain Jimmy Maher lavished praise on the Gabba crowd, which he compared to a State of Origin rugby league cauldron, and says the Poms only complained about the crowd to divert attention from their woeful cricket performance in Brisbane.
"The Poms are kidding, aren't they? Good, strong cricket teams don't worry about that sort of stuff,'' Maher said.
"I give 10 out of 10 to the people of Queensland being a great crowd during the Ashes.
"The fact the crowd got under England's skin, and the Poms are worrying about all sorts of silly stuff, is a real win.''
Stuart Law, the current Queensland coach and the man who famously captained the Bulls to their first Sheffield Shield win, also cannot believe the carry-on from the Poms.
Law, who played Test and one-day international cricket for Australia, described the Poms as "precious".
"Australia has not been beaten at the Gabba in Test cricket since 1988. I suppose the Poms saying they might not want to come here in future is one way for them to break that hold," Law said.
"They are being precious. They don't like playing at the Gabba, as simple as that.''
And the Queenslander who was in charge of a golden era of Australian cricket, respected former national selection boss Trevor Hohns, said the Poms had complained simply to take the focus off their Gabba drubbing.
"They are making big things out of little things to take the heat off their own performance in Brisbane,'' ex-Test legspinner Hohns said.
"Wherever you go in world cricket, the crowd gives you a bit of stick. People pay their money and they are entitled to have a bit of good natured fun.''
The poor-loser Poms were so infuriated at chants of "Stuart Broad is a tosspot'' at the Gabba that Clarke made informal comments that he wanted Brisbane excluded from the next series.
The Poms also took offence to a comment by Lord Mayor Graham Quirk at a lunch, when Cr Quirk had a go at English batsman Kevin Pietersen after the cricketer tweeted he would rather watch paint dry than look around Brisbane.
Cr Quirk isn't backtracking.
"I offered the cricketer the keys to the city but I said it would be for the back door," he said.
Queensland Cricket is also bemused at the nonsense from the Poms. Before the complaints came to light, QC even received a letter from the England Cricket Board earlier this week thanking officials for their hospitality.
