GRAEME Swann has hammered Sydney Cricket Ground punters for booing debutant legspinner Mason Crane.

Across his first few days in Test cricket the spinner has regularly pulled out of his delivery stride at the last possible moment, electing not to release the ball.

On day three at the SCG, the crowd grew weary of it, with Crane regularly booed whenever he pulled the plug on a ball, and sarcastically cheered when he eventually completed the delivery.

It was behaviour Swann believed unbecoming of SCG attendants - particularly on Jane McGrath day.

“If you’re in the crowd in Sydney, stop booing him,” Swann said on Triple M’s commentary.

“He’s bowling the hardest thing to do in cricket, bowling leg spin. He’s a young kid making his way. If it doesn’t quite feel right and he pulls out, good on him. You’re better than that Sydney.

“This is supposed to be a charitable day. Everyone is in pink for good reason. Have a bit of charity for christ’s sake.

“MacGilla (Stuart MacGill)used to say if you’re not quite ready to bowl it don’t bowl it. What’s the point of giving the opposition that advantage.

“It’s bang out of order so stop it, you’re better than that Sydney.”

On Friday, Crane explained his peculiar trend.

“If something doesn’t feel quite right when I’m running in — if the ball doesn’t feel quite right or one of the steps I take isn’t quite right then I try to stop myself rather than bowl a ball that I know wouldn’t be as good as I can give.”

It’s been a baptism of fire for the 20-year-old, who despite bowling with plenty of fizz has mostly gone unrewarded across his first three days in Test cricket.

Crane should have had the wicket of Usman Khawaja for 132 when England reviewed a big lbw shout. HawkEye showed it crashing into the stumps, but only after the third umpire confirmed there was a no-ball. Crane eventually got his man, with the left-hander stumped more than a session later.

EIGHT years ago, Michael Hennessy and nine friends donned cream blazers and ventured out to the Sydney Cricket Ground with prop microphones in hand.

And thus the Richies were born.

From those humble beginnings the Richies have grown and grown. Once upon a time you could fit them all in a single bus – now you could not squeeze them onto a Boeing 747.

On Friday the Richies were 650 strong at the SCG and nationally their numbers are touching 1000. And while the SCG will always be home, they now attend day two at every Test venue in the country in the summer.

“We had a lot of fun the first year and a lot of people said to us can we join you next year, and we thought next year, OK, why not,” Hennessy, the founder of the group, told the Daily Telegraph.

“And then ten turned to twenty, then forty, then one hundred, and it got bigger and bigger.”

Two years ago the Richies thought about hanging up their jackets for good. Following the passing of the very man the group was named after, they were unsure whether continuing their yearly tradition would be in good tact.

Step in Daphne Benaud.

“We were sort of at a bit of a crossroads as to whether we should continue The Richies, and we got a message to (his widow) Daphne to ask her what her thoughts were and she said ‘I think it’s fantastic and you should continue’”, he said.

This year at the SCG the Richies managed to fill out an entire bay in the Victor Trumper Stand – something that only seemed like a pipe dream once upon a time.

“A full bay has been our dream for five years, and we didn’t really think that could happen.

“I think 650 is the limit, you’ve got to cap it somewhere; our goal now is to grow in the other cities.”

THE THIN BLUE LINE TURNS PINK

JANE McGrath day - the third day of the Sydney Test, named in honour of the late wife of Test legend Glenn McGrath - is in its tenth year and has become one of the more iconic days of the Australian summer.

Every year the SCG turns into a of pink as tens of thousands of punters fill the stands in their best and brightest pink gear.

Players from both sides, of course, hand over signed baggy pink caps to Glenn McGrath before play on day three - to be auctioned after the match.

But is there anything that typifies the impact of the day more than this?

The NSW police force has joined the occasion with pink caps of their own.

Top work, we say.