
Congratulations to Joe Root for being named ‘Man of the Match’ in the Ashes…have to say it here because you’d hardly know it if you relied on the BBC’s website which hasn’t got a single headline about his achievement.
The Telegraph says…
The Ashes 2015 day four report: England win one of their most surprising and flawless victories to take series lead
England 430 & 289 beat Australia 308 & 242 by 169 runs: Man-of-match Joe Root takes final catch as hosts thrash tourists in opening Test
It was not so much a pigeon that came home to roost as a pterodactyl. Brad Haddin had dropped Joe Root before he had scored on Wednesday morning, when England would have been close to capsizing at 43 for four. Instead, England won one of their most surprising and flawless victories, and Root was the Investec player of the match.
The Daily Mail…
England storm to memorable win over the Aussies in first Ashes Test as Root caps man of the match display with winning catch
The Independent…
Ashes 2015 live: Joe Root stars as England win the First Test by 169 runs to take 1-0 series lead over Australia
And again…
Ashes 2015: Joe Root embodies New England’s air of abandon
It had to be Joe Root…He had set up the victory with a first-innings century of cathartic abandon, and eased fourth day nerves by taking two wickets, moonlighting as a part time off-spinner. There could be no more appropriate man of a match.
England close to collapse until Root put some steel into them at the start of the match and provided the base for the victory….he ‘set up the victory’ with his first innings.
The BBC…not interested…or not much. Nowhere near as estatic as they were about Moeen Ali.
The only mention of Root being ‘Man of the Match’ in this BBC match report is a caption on a photograph….

Joe Root was named man of the match after scoring 193 runs and taking two wickets in the match
Not a single headline proclaiming Root’s brilliance on the cricket page even though he’s run up some impressive stats as the BBC admitted …
Joe Root had the highest score for the eighth time in his 28 Test match career (29 %). Don Bradman is the only player in history with a higher percentage.
Have to ask why the BBC has such a different reaction to Root and Moeen Ali.
Wonder what Root would look like in a beard? Might be more photogenic in the BBC’s eyes.
Did the BBC, and much of the media along with it, have a message and what was it ? You, the Public, might have a bad opinion of Islam and lack trust in Muslims due to everything that’s going in in the world but look, here’s a Muslim, with a big beard, he’s playing for England and he’s doing well….you can love Muslims and trust them….ignore the hoax of the Trojan Horse and the bombs and Tower Hamlets and the pressure groups agitating for Islam to be accepted as a parallel system in the UK…ignore all that….a Muslim can play cricket for England…so what’s not to like about Islam!
Sidney Bottocks
@arsegrape@anjemchoudary You need a positive role model for your life. Try Moeen Ali. Opening cricket batsman, devout Muslim and loves this country.
And if you think that that isn’t the message that the BBC wants to impart, or at least a major reason behind the highlighting of Moeen Ali you are mistaken or kidding yourself….
The Daily Mail admits that Ali is to be used as a role model for Islam….a ‘bridge across harmful cultural divides’.…
Actually, he’s representing England and himself – and that means he is also representing his faith and using his status as a bridge across some harmful cultural divides. I feel he is very much to be admired.
And there we were thinking it was all about the cricket….or as Moeen himself says..
His quest beyond cricket is to place what seems foreign, or even threatening to western eyes, in the mainstream. He wants to be the friendly face of that Taliban beard.
‘I know people aren’t sure about men who look like I do,’ he says. ‘People don’t see the beard as a bit of hair. I’ve been shouted at, called some horrible names, and when I first came to Worcester I noticed people crossing the road to avoid me. So, yes, there are a lot of bad Muslims giving us a bad name, but all I would say is that it isn’t just Muslims who need to change. There are a lot of ignorant people, too.
There is enormous pressure on the Media to conform and to only show ‘good news’ stories about Muslims…just Google ‘The Media and Islam’ and you’ll get a torrent of articles about the ‘demonisation’ and ‘victimisation’ of Muslims….
The Guardian…
Study shows ‘demonisation’ of Muslims
A “torrent” of negative stories has been revealed by a study of the portrayal of Muslims and Islam in the media, according to a report published yesterday.
Research into one week’s news coverage showed that 91% of articles in national newspapers about Muslims were negative. The London mayor, Ken Livingstone, who commissioned the study, said the findings were a “damning indictment” of the media and urged editors and programme makers to review the way they portray Muslims.
The Huffington Post…
The Criminalisation of Islam in The British Media
British Muslims should challenge the government and the media without hesitation on its definition of “British values” and “extremism” – terms which have become political yardsticks to censor and criminalise established Islamic beliefs.
Moeen Ali is undoubtedly a good player but let’s keep the politics, and faith, out of sport as well as the BBC’s social engineering and the attempts to ‘maintain civil society and cohesion’ using Moeen Ali as the ‘role model’….or at least not make it so obvious and give the white boy just as much of a cheer and recognition as the Muslim player.












