Is ICC "fair" ?

The recent India Australia cricket test raised a lot of questions on the standard of umpiring and the way ICC match refree has handled the hearing against Harbhajan Singh for his alleged Racial "slur". However there are a lot more questions that would have been asked in more normal saner circumstances.

1. During the previous test match at Melbourne Yuvraj Singh of India was asked to explain his conduct after he showed "dissent" at the umpire's decision. Yuvraj was given out incorrectly by the umpire and had stood his ground for a few seconds and stared back unbelievigly at the umpire. The same thing happened in the first Innings of this the second test at Sydney. This time however the batsman in the same situation was a white race player the "great" captain of Australia Ricky Ponting. This time the batsman after been given out stared at the umpire and then let out a few words too. To top it all this batsman smashed everything in sight on his way back to the pavillion with the bat. ICC as always in the past for "fair" cricketers did not deem it as an offence that brings the game to a disrepute.

2. On many occassions in the past cricketers from India and the non-white countries have been penalised for excessive appealing. However the obvious mis-demeanour and shouting by Ponting for a close-in catch where the ball had clearly hit the ground was not found to be a case against Ponting for harrassing and itimidating the umpire by excessive appealing.

3. After a normal test match people would have questioned the way that Dhoni was given out in the second innings. He was struck on his pads a further 2 stump outside his off stump. Albeit he was not offering a shot with the bat. But on a pitch that was turning as much as it was no umpire would have been able to make out where the ball wuld have ended up, and specially the 2 gentlemen umpiring in this test. These men were unable to see any plumb LBWs when Hussey or Symonds were being struck right in front of the wicket of the bowling of Indian Spinners.

4. In a normal test match people would have questioned the referral made by Mark Benson for a run out attempt in the Indian 2nd Innings when Harbhajan dived in at the wicket keeper's end and for a change not a single Austraian player appealed. Earlier even when Indians had appealed the other umpire did not care 2 hoots even when the TV replays showed that the batsman Symonds would have been given out by the blindest of 3rd umpires.

5. Had any non-white player raised a finger to prove a point that the opposition batsman was out (just like the gesture made by Ponting when Ganguly was given out in the second innings), the player would have got banned for many tests. Nothing has even been said to Ponting.

There have been so many earlier incidents too of racial bias against Muralitharan, Shohaib Akhtar, Inzamam, Sehwag, Sachin, Harbhajan (many times before this test). Whereas the same offences have been ignored against Brett Lee, Pollock, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting. So is ICC not an unfair racist organisation? Isnt it time that the non-white cricket playing nations get together and create their own Cricket Control and leave the ICC and its holier-than-thou "fair" people to themselves.

Racist Who ?

Harbhajan Singh the Indian Off-spinner has been judged guilty of a racial slur against the Autralian player Andrew Symonds. What is and what isn't racial - read on "Big Bird" is OK but "Big Monkey" is racist ?

India "cheated" at Sydney Test 2008

If you have seen the standard of umpiring in the recently concluded Cricket Test match at Sydney played between India and Australia then Read my discussion on this subject India "cheated" at Sydney Test 2008