At the risk of sounding a real dinosaur, I don’t get all this social networking.
Yes, send me back to a cave if you like. I find it is possible to survive the day without knowing if that friend of a friend you vaguely know has just decided to watch the Jeremy Kyle show!
What is it about tweeting that the rest of the world seems to find so fascinating? Self-obsessed TV celebrities and actors I can understand. They want everyone to know what they are up to, darlings.
Can’t possibly keep out of the public eye, especially if there’s a new movie to plug. But sportsmen should surely know better.
In this business, you quickly learn how fragile some egos can be. The wrong word or turn of phrase will have some immediately banging down the door claiming they were “stitched up”.
It’s easy to shoot the messenger, especially when the boss is on their case. But there is no defence on Facebook or Twitter; an invention that comes straight from the horse’s mouth.
So you wonder what was going through Azeem Rafiq’s head when he typed his expletive-laden blast at England under-19 coach John Abrahams.
Miffed at being dropped for breaking a team curfew and axed as skipper, the Yorkshire teenager decided against taking the punishment on the chin. Instead, he launched a foul-mouthed missive for the world of cyberspace to see.
I can’t repeat many of the words, other than ECB and incompetent. His description of Abrahams is best left well alone. But what a stupid, immature thing for a player to do.
He has rightly been disciplined by England. It’s questionable whether the spinner will ever wear the three lions again – and why should he get the opportunity?
Of course, Rafiq was angry, but his current predicament is entirely of his own making. Rant and rage by all means within the four walls but don’t let the world hear.
Maybe there’s a lot to be said for a sound-proofed cave.
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