South African supporters have seized on the fact that this is a way to get under Warner’s skin. The behaviour of the fans is disgusting, no doubt, but if not for Warner’s reaction to the initial insult it probably would have gone no further.

Nonetheless, it’s a sad day when mean-spirited, nasty put downs are a part of the game. I’m not a fan of sledging in sport, but there have been some very funny, famous ones over the years. This rubbish in South Africa is something else altogether.

Aren’t we getting a bit tired of David Everest’s somewhat worn-out style of journalism where he finds an opinion different from his own and then pours scorn on those who hold it. 

His latest attacks (On the Wallaby, The Border Mail, March 10) are on vegans and anyone campaigning for a sugar tax. For Vegans David explains how tolerant he is about people who don’t like lamb, fish, milk, beer or wine, saying that while he enjoys all of the above, not liking them is “fair enough”. 

When it comes to vegans though he becomes very sensitive and suggests they can “get stuffed”, particularly when they have the audacity to tell him what to eat. The message for vegans is clear, don’t waste your time on David Everest. He follows this up with an objection to a sugar tax, an idea advanced by people he calls “the anti-sugar lobby” and an idea that he describes as “a doozy”. 

However rather than advancing any practical or sensible arguments against a sugar tax he suggests it won’t work because when he was in a café last week someone ordered a medium sized cappuccino with four sugars. Then someone else ordered a large with three sugars, to which an exasperated David Everest wrote, “I give up”. 

Having just seen the extent of the problem his first reaction is to give up and attack anyone who might want to do something about it. 

I understand the appeal of an apparently straight talking rural journalist who appears to claim to be the voice of the country, but he has long since stopped sounding like anyone I know. I looked up “On the wallaby” and found that its original meaning was as a description of unemployed or itinerant workers. Perhaps it’s time for David Everest to be unemployed or to move on. 

I wish to congratulate Father Peter MacLeod-Miller, the Parish Council, and the parishioners of St Matthew’s, for the 21st century caring, welcoming, and practice of true Christian values. Never before have so many community people felt so welcomed, respected, and acknowledged. 

The 21st Century requires a different form of spiritual guidance to that of previous centuries. St Matthew’s has not become a closed exclusive denomination. Many people, including those who have despaired that the varying Christian religions would ever embrace the stated values of Christianity, plus some agnostics and atheists in this Albury-Wodonga area, celebrate what they see at St Matthew’s as an all-inclusive Parish. Thank you Peter MacLeod-Miller.