Cricket......

[Outbackmanyep]

India has taken their bat and ball and gone home....

So they lose a test, now they're sooking.......

Why don't they cast their minds back to 2001 when there were numerous dubious LBW decisions given in their favour by the same umpire......did Australia pack up and go home???....

I mean , you have to be kidding......

[matt]

Yeah. Pretty shoddy behaviour.

There are many ways for the Indian side to get whatever message of displeasure across without effectively holding the game to ransom.

Their behaviour is more than a little precious and I can't see how this benefits the game or the fans, which are the biggest losers out of all this.

Unprecedented and very unnecessary.

Whatever sympathy you may have held for their position (if any at all) completely evaporates in the face of what is essentially a huge temper tantrum.

I also feel very sorry for my old colleagues at ACT Cricket who were looking forward to staging a tour game at Manuka Oval in just a few days between the Comets and India. Preparations for the visit have been going for months.

Hope it gets resolved.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

I'm a keen student of the game and the reaction by the Indians has been, if nothing else, predictable.

It is perfectly true that two umpiring decisions in particular during the game were patently wrong -- not hearing Symonds hit the cover off the ball in the first dig when he was 30-odd and giving Dravid out caught behind in the second were both howlers. And, they had a significant impact on the outcome of the game. It would more likely have ended as a draw if they had been correctly given.

But, most of the others were line ball and nothing really to complain about one way or the other. The catch by Clarke off Ganguly looked okay to me. An agreement between the captains before the series commenced meant that if the captain of the fielding team claimed that a catch was fair, that was the end of the matter. That is precisely what happened. Ponting was asked whether it was a fair catch, he replied yes and that was that. Or at least that _should_ have been that. Sourav Ganguly has a penchant for belligerence and just wouldn't walk even after the umpire raised the finger.

If the Australian team don't do well, they get a bit of a roast in the media and the pubs and clubs, but that is it. Cricket on the sub-continent is a different thing. There is a lot of money in the game over there (particularly from T.V) and success of the team is very, very important. The pressure was really on them to win, they managed to get themselves into the driving seat a few times in Sydney and one way or another they didn't win, and worse they lost. They are probably just as dirty with themselves as they are with the umpires -- they just haven't admitted that to themselves yet.

Fact of the matter is, right or wrong, you can't argue with the umpire's decision. Having said that Steve Bucknor's use-by date is well past. I'm surprised no one tapped him on the shoulder after the farce he and his fellows made of the World Cup final. He should go. But that doesn't mean India should be excused for taking their bat and ball home with them. For shame!

As a matter of interest, have a look at the Indian Times --

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

It is pretty savage.

Best,


Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Outbackmanyep]

i think burning effigies of Umpires quite a low act, and uncalled for.......i think the result has been taken too far.

[CoombellKid]

Personally Cricket for me YAWN!!!! but I feel for you lads, if it was a rugby
union series I'd be levered as a fan. And I feel sorry for your mates down
in the ACT too Matt.

regards,CS

[leon]

Nothing more boring than test cricket, but all to their own. now a bit of beach cricket has at least some life in it.

Leon

[RB]

Too dangerous nowadays Leon !

[timelord]

Cricket boring --how can anyone say that, a 5 day test match going down to the last five minutes and getting a result in such an amazing way, it was compulsive viewing and I for one didnt miss a moment.
And as for the controversy surrounding the match, everyones talking about it and has lifted the profile of cricket. And as a final comment your only out when the umpire gives you out --onya Symonds.

[Outbackmanyep]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24G7u-Yye7I

This is what im talking about, how dubious??? And they call us cheats???

[GeoffW1]

Hi,


Yes, very exciting the whole thing was, for cricket fans. Just a few thoughts..

- the offence of racial abuse just refers to the use of any term calculated to cause offence or distress to any player. Note the emphasis on the intent of the words used.

- it has been reported that BOTH teams were briefed before the tour began that the word "monkey" would be deemed an offensive sledge. So if a player then did proceed to use it (this seems a bit uncertain still), he really has no leg to stand on when reported.

- poor old Steve Bucknor is now 61, I think, past the mandatory retirement age of 60. He was tapped on the shoulder alright, but to COME BACK for one more series. It's a bit rough of all those media types now kicking his head because he agreed to help out. That was really because they don't have enough senior umpires who can stand in certain countries. And he isn't the only one to commit a howler, they all do that.

- the bit about Ponting and Kumble each agreeing to take the fielder's word on a catch is only a quarter of the whole story. The batsman should still wait a bit for the deadly finger because it may have been a no-ball. And the fielding side still has no right to make the final decision for the umpire, it is only helpful advice, no more.

- I think a fair bit of the responsibility (or blame or whatever) rests with the media. If we are going to appoint umpires, put them in charge of the game, and then second-guess them all day long with snickometers, replays, and infrared images, what is the point?

Cheers

[stephend]

The way cricketers who've got some batsman out carry on like a chook that's laid an egg makes me cringe. Tennis players like Hewitt the same. Indians burning effigies of umpires is just the same sort of thing. What happened to reserve and grace and dignity and perspective.
On the other hand, you've got to look at something when the weather is constantly cloudy.

[Exfso]

Nothing more than a monstrous "dummy spit". DIDDUMS...
One only has to look at the way the Australian team were treated when in India. We didnt spit the chewie, just got on with it..

[goober]

All a bit hysterical - both the umpiring (poor) and the "spirit of the game" (not great, but not unexpected). I remember when you couldn't get an LBW on the sub-continent before neutral umpires were introduced. Peter Roebuck's piece in The Age today calling for Ponting's sacking is .... interesting.

[matt]

An interesting point, Doug.

I occasionally wonder whether all this stuff is blown out of proportion just to bring a sense of theatre and excitement to a sport (Test match cricket) which for many has began to lose its lustre in recent times?

If we could just get back to having genuinely competitive and exciting Test matches more frequently...the journos would have to focus more on the cricket than the sideline shenanigans:)

[DJVege]

1) Umpiring was horrible. Both umpires should be sacked. Most of the time they had the "I don't know" look on their face. And I'm sorry...you don't ask players if the "ball was caught" if you are unsure. You are an umpire. That's your job. If you are unsure, ask the square leg umpire. Still unsure, 3rd umpire. Don't know the process.....you shouldn't be an umpire.

2) Ponting should not be sacked as captain. That is just a ridiculous comment, and I'm not even a fan of him. Nuff said.

3) I think India definitely have a right to be upset and take action, however abandoning the series is taking it too far. Appeal the decision against Harbhajan, and Harbhajan can play till the outcome of the appeal is known.

I say throw both teams into a gladiator ring, let them beat the **** out of each other. Then get to a bar, have a drink, and just get on with the bl**dy game!!

[Ric]

It's just not cricket, I was really looking forward to the ACT game as I don't often get a chance to see an international side play. But now and even if it still goes ahead I'm not sure if I really want to.

In the end, the umpires descision is final be it good or bad and somedays it will go with you and other days it will not. My advice to India is to get over it, leave the politics outside the ground and get on with the game.

Cheers

[DJVege]

I dunno...I know I'd be pretty upset if the umpiring went that way against me...so many decisions...both umpires!! Shoulda got the umpires off and just let the players judge the calls. LoL. The problem with "Umpires have 100% control" leaves the option open for cheating. Which is why I think replays, snickometers etc... are a good idea because it SHOULD keep the umpires on their feet.

Anyway, we'll see what happens in the next few days, I guess. Will be interesting to see the direction it takes.

[Bobj]

You mean THIS Peter Roebuck???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Roebuck

[DJVege]

Yeah, I believe that's the one. Wouldn't take too much notice of what he has to say. He's a convicted weirdo with kids, and he's a pommie!! :) (No offence to poms on the boards).

[goober]

That's the chap - I once read Ian Botham's autobiography. He had a word or ten to say about Peter Roebuck - none good.

[JohnH]

You remined me that there was a time when Indian batsmen were almost never given LBW at home so now we have neutral umpires. IMO this match was ruined by the bad decisions.

[ngcles]

Hi All,,

Outbackmanyep posted a link to the Harbhajan hat-trick in 2001 during the Indian tour.

This was the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24G7u-Yye7I

And there are quite a few typed comments under the clip but to explain clearly:

(1) Ponting was correctly given -- he was plumb.

(2) The Gilchrist decision was an absolute howler. Yes he was hit in line, yes the ball was likely to hit the stumps but, right-arm bowler to left-hand bat you _cannot_ be given out if it pitches outside the left-handers leg stump (unless the batsman doesn't play a shot). It clearly pitched 6-inches outside the stumps -- and Gilchrist was playing a shot. An umpire at international level ought _never_ give that out. Did Gilchrist edge it as Tony Greig speculates? Dunno -- doesn't matter.

(3)The Warne decision was at best dicey. The fieldsman took the "catch" but it is almost impossible to tell whether is is a legitimate catch, a bump-ball or a squeeze. How the TV umpire gave Warne out on one replay is very ... hmmmmm. Notice the fieldsmen all jumping and dancing round appealing -- just like the boys in the baggy-green were the other day (and accused of unsportsman-like conduct for doing it).


And we're the cheats? Come-on gimme a break!

Best,

Les D

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Oh, and here is the very, very sportsman-like Harbhajan Singh who refused to walk -- even after he was bowled clean as a whistle by Kevin Pietersen during a recent one-dayer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3Ms37yt3lg&feature=related

hmmmm ...

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Outbackmanyep]

If you watch closely, Gilchrist INSIDE EDGE onto pads.....I rest my case!

The "first indian" to ever take a hat trick and it was a FARCE!

I agree wholeheartedly Les! :thumbsup:

Cheers!