Hello and welcome to this edition of the I.E.C.C. Newsletter.
Op Ed:
While "monkeys" and "bastards" are at play elsewhere, we found that a majority
of the cricket fans are sympathising with India's plight at
Sydney. In a poll on the Sydney Daily Telegraph website asking the question, "Do
the Australian team play in the true spirit of cricket?", 77
per cent of more than 2,500 respondents answered "No". In the Herald Sun poll,
84 per cent of more than 13,700 readers said the India had had
a raw deal from the umpires at the SCG, while talkback callers across Australia
registered their dislike of a win-at-all-costs mentality. In
India, effigies of Steve Bucknor and Ricky Ponting are being burned, Peter
Roebuck called for the extreme but unwanted step of sacking of
Ponting as captain of Australia, a lot of monkey jokes are being circulated in
the internet. Well, that is the international summary.
The Aussies' never-say-die attitude was on display when they took the last 3
wickets in the penultimate over of the last day. Terrific job
indeed and congratulations to them. However, their behaviour on the field took
the gloss off what would have been a wonderful advertisement
for Test cricket. Today nobody seems to value their victory, except the
Australian team themselves.
The Aussies' attitude of win-at-all-costs led to the current fiasco. They
were silly, if not boorish, on the field, stupid in their appeals
and their overall approach during the second Test was completely unprofessional.
We can't imagine Ponting taking a grounded catch and appeal
for it and Michael Clark waiting for the umpire's decision after edging the
first ball he faced to first slip which Dravid took almost at knee
height. What of the reported pre-series pact of walking and taking the word of a
fielder? Since when did a captain of the fielding side start
playing the role of a third umpire? They lost all the moral high ground and the
right to talk about playing their cricket "hard and fair" the
moment Ponting failed walk when he knew he nicked the ball. Not walking is not
unprofessional or unethical but when you have an agreement with
the opposing captain of taking the fielder's word for close catches, people
would expect honesty while you are batting too. You can't be
honest when you are fielding and dishonest when you are batting. Australia
taught the world to sledge and told that it is "mental
disintegration" and an essential part of their cricket. But they can't accept it
when they get it back. A "monkey" to an Australian is
probably an equal insult to an Indian being called a "bastard". Ponting termed
the whole episode a "little incident". Which incident are you
referring to Mr. Ponting? Either you are oblivious to what is happening around
you or you are pretending. In either case, you should shut up.
At the same time, BCCI's handling of Harbhajan Singh and Steve "the blind"
Bucknor issues can not be condoned either. If Harbhajan was found
guilty by the match referee, there is an appeal process and BCCI should go
through the appeal process and put all their financial might and
clout to get the ban revoked. At least, that would look like they went through
the proper channels and followed established norms, whatever be
machinations behind the scenes.
BCCI's demand of removing Bucknor from the third Test is ridiculous too.
True, Bucknor stopped getting Christmas cards from Indians a long
time ago. He didn't become a bad umpire overnight. His frequent bad decisions
against India are well documented (remember, Ganguly gave him a
mark of zero during India's the last tour of Australia) but what is surprising
is that the Indian team or the BCCI continued to accept him as
an umpire in their matches. Sure enough, he played a loving Grandfather's role
whenever Ponting and co. jumped up and down asking for an
Indian wicket to help Austrlia win the second Test at Sydney. But knowing his
propensity to not give the benefit of doubt to Indian batsmen,
BCCI should have objected to his officiating well before the series started. But
once the damage was done at Sydney, the way for BCCI should
have been to lodge a strong complaint, apart from the captain's report, in which
Anil Kumble reportedly and justifiably gave Bucknor a zero
mark again. BCCI should have protested and protested strongly and Bucknor should
have been given an official dressing down before the 3rd Test
but allowed him to officiate as per the original schedule. BCCI could later make
sure that he won't umpire India's matches any more. That
would have given a bit of legitimacy to BCCI's actions. But unfortunately, as
things stand now, BCCI is no different from the current
Australian team - a cry baby.
The playing conditions, signed by both India and Australia before the series
has a clause that explicitly states that no country shall object
to the appointment of umpires. By saying we won't play until Harbhajan's ban is
lifted and Bucknor removed for the 3rd Test, BCCI is putting a
gun on the head of the ICC and act as an extra-constitutional authority. BCCI is
setting a bad and dangerous precedent here. If they don't
like a decision or a person, they can get that revoked or him removed without
following the proper procedures(do we see a parallel of UN-U.S.
here?). What, then, is the use of all the rules and regulations? Who cares for
it? Only the weaker nations?
BCCI is one of the most disorganised and unprofessionally run sporting
organisation in the world today the fact that it is currently headed by
a full-time politician and a cabinet minister at the central government does not
help the matter either. The presidency of BCCI is a part-time
job for him. He has admitted in the past that he spends less than two hours a
week on cricket. As with the case around the world, politicians
go by public opinions and seldom use their brain, which is what we are seeing
now. It is high time BCCI have some professionals running the
organisation.
Now the solution? There appears to be two albeit a bit far fetched:
1. We should have another cricket playing country that can challenge
Australia on its so-called aggressive cricket on and off the field. India
is getting there slowly, but not yet.
2. There should be another country that can challenge BCCI's financial might.
But with the world economy going the way it is, there appears to
be little hope. Is anyone in China reading this?
Nonetheless, some might look at it from a completely different view point and
think that this is a payback time. The teams from the sub-
continent were subjugated and made to serve the interests of England and
Australia for a long, long time and the ICC top brass used to be an
exclusive club of white nations with some countries wielding veto powers. Nobody
cared for the Asian teams until the mid 90s, when a shrewd
businessman named Jagmohan Dalmiya made the BCCI the richest cricket body in the
world.
The origin of these problems can be traced to the ineptitude of the ICC. The
Australians were allowed to continue to do whatever they thought
was right on the field. The Australians believed there is nothing wrong in the
"Australian way". Similarly, the BCCI was allowed to flout
their financial might and they continue to do so. Whichever way one looks at the
events in the past decade - match fixing, India-South Africa
series where the match referee was removed, Oval fiasco and now the Sydney
debacle - they don't augur well for the sport we all love.
Chennai Superstars, led by former Australian international
Stuart Law, became the champions of the inaugural Indian
Cricket League tournament (Twenty-20) beating the Chandigarh
Lions, led by former Kiwi allrounder Chris Cairns and coached
by none other than Michael Bevan, by 12 runs. Shabbir Ahmed
tamed the Lions with his 4 for 23, which included the first
hat-trick of the tournament. The grand finale lived up to its
reputation with a Super Bowl-like atmosphere: a fashion show,
Bollywood stars, a full house, fireworks, and big hits.
Panchkula, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, was alive and
reverberating.
Chennai Superstars: 155/8
Chandigarh Lions: 143/8
###
The Indian Cricket League (ICL) will conduct four additional
tournaments in its second edition in 2008. Unveiling its future
plans, Subhash Chandra, chairman of the Essel Group, the
company behind the venture, said he was happy with the way
things had panned out in the inaugural season and was
"impatient" for more good things to follow. In addition to the
existing Twenty20 Championships, which will be played in
November-December next year, the first of the four new events
will be the domestic 50-over championship that will be
contested between the Indian players from the inaugural
tournament's six teams in February 2008. A triangular Twenty20
will then be played between the best of the Indian, Asian and
the Rest of the World XIs between February and March. The ICL
Grand Championship, once again a 20-over format, will follow,
with two new teams joining the existing six international
teams.
###
The Stanford 20/20 Board of Directors announced today that Cuba
will not be playing in the 2008 Stanford 20/20 Cricket
Tournament in the West Indies. Due to the United States embargo
against Cuba, organisations and American citizens such as Sir
Allen Stanford have to make application to, and receive special
permission from the US Government to conduct any type of
activity with that Caribbean nation. Stanford's application was
denied.
###
Australia now taxes entertainers and sports people working in
the country for the income they generate. Indian cricketers
visiting Australia this summer would thus be taxed for the
present tour from their match-fee, which could be to the tune
of nearly USD 1.5 million (Approximately Rs 6 crore). An Indian
cricketer will get around USD 6,200 and USD 4,000 for a Test
and a one-dayer.
###
Adam Gilchrist is reported to have batted on the opening day of
a Test for the first time in more than a year, when he came to
crease against India in the first Test.
Talk about Australia being challenged!
###
Three New Zealand cricketers -- Nathan Astle, Daryl Tuffey and
Craig McMillan -- who came back after participating in the
inaugural edition of the ICL, were stopped from doing cameos in
the cricket-based Indian film "Victory" reportedly at the
behest of BCCI. "To me it's a bit farcical, really; they're
just being silly. It is out-and-out wrong," Astle was quoted as
saying. The film also stars several cricketers including
Australians Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Allan Border, Mike Hussey
and Jason Gillespie and England fast bowling duo Sajid Mahmood
and Simon Jones in addition to the current India team touring
Australia.
###
It has been reported that Steve Bucknor, of the West Indies,
earned a six-figure salary in 2007 for the equivalent of just
over a month's work.
###
Source: Various web and print media
The ICC EAP Cricket Trophy concluded in December, with Japan and Vanuatu
advancing to the World Cricket League Division 5 Tournament. This
Tournament will be held in Jersey in May 2008. Japan took out the title
finishing undefeated and Vanuatu took out second place, with Cook
Islands finishing a very close third.
On behalf of the KCL Community, Tony Fordyce, the chairman of the KCL Committee
congratulated the Japanese team. "On behalf of the KCL, I
would like to pass on our congratulations to the members and coaching staff of
the Japan National Cricket Team on their recent victory in the
tournament in New Zealand, and wish them every success in the next step",
Fordyce said. He also expressed the hope of maintaining a cordial
relations with the JCA and having the opportunity to play with and against
members of the National Team next season and in future seasons.
Results as of December 31:
There is no movement in ranking last month.
Here is the list of the top 10 teams(last month's ranking in brackets):
1 Tokyo Giants (1)
2 Friends (2)
3 Tokyo Wombats (3)
4 Wyverns (4)
5 Kansai Fighters (5)
6 Al Karam (6)
7 Osaka Bulldogs (7)
8 Gunma XI (8)
9 Myoden (9)
10 KRAC (10)
See the full list here.
Here is the last poll result:
Your take on the upcoming visit of India to Australia?
Australia will win 100%
India will win 0%
Drawn Series 0%
Take the new poll:
Do you consider cricket a gentleman's game any more?
Steve Bucknor's bungle list
+ New words added in the Dictionary +
Bucknor: (v)(n) (adj)
1. Temporary blindness leading to missing out on the obvious.
2. To be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
3. Situations leading to grave judgmental errors.
Usage: I feel bucknored by my boss; Life often throws a bucknor at you.
Benson: (v)(n) (adj)
1. Something that legitimises a severe bucknor.
Usage: First they bucknored me and then they bensoned it! I am toast.
Also see bucknor
Note: Beginning the Issue #39 (May 6, '04), we bring you some interesting snippets from the cricket world, to celebrate the fourth anniversary this Newsletter and first anniversary of our popular "Trivial Facts" series. The same will be published on the front page of our website too.
"In India there are two things you don't do: argue with your wife or the
media!" - An advise India's new coach designate Gary Kirsten received
from a former Indian selector.
1. The Chappells and the Grace brothers - WG, EM and GF - are the only sets
of three brothers to play for the same team in the same Test
match.
2. Four Mohammad brothers represented Pakistan - Hanif, Mushtaq, Wazir and Sadiq.
A fifth brother, Raees played first-class cricket.
That's all in this edition!