sidelined

Some of you may have noticed that cricket has dominated the news for the past few days. The aftermath of the Sydney test has released a wave of recriminations, hyperbole and effigy burning not seen for many a year.

First off, cricket will survive this brouhaha as it survived Bodyline, Ray Illingworth taking his players off the field, regular attempts by Pakistan to take their bat and go home, Sunil Gavaskar not liking an Aussie umpires decision back in 1981 (which was a little cheeky given the standard of umpiring that faced any team touring the sub-continent around that time) and Dennis the menace’s infamous aluminum bat.

The state of play at the moment in this sorry saga is that India seem happy that their umpiring scourge, Steve Bucknor, has been dropped from the Third Test in Perth. And this was the correct decision by the ICC (International Cricket Council). Bucknor had a shocker and is at the end of the long career as an umpire. It would be better for him to bow out gracefully and take an administrative role.

The hangover is still the three test suspension given to Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh for allegedly making a racist comment to Australian Andrew Symonds. At the moment, India are content with the notion that Harbhajan’s sentence will be suspended pending an appeal. If that appeal does not happen by the time everyone gets to Perth then he will play the Third test.

One thing that seems to be forgotten is that ill feeling between Harbhajan and Symonds goes back to Australia’s tour of India back in October. This was the same tour where Symonds was taunted by sections of the crowd imitating monkeys. Even if Harbhajan had called Symonds a monkey, failing to recognize any racial connotations, he is an idiot. Still his three test suspension does seem quite harsh.

And while calls for his sacking the worst of hyperbole that has accompanied this saga, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has not handled the situation well. As captain, he should make overtures to Indian captain Anil Kumble and sort this out between the teams. Ponting’s failure in leadership has only exacerbated tensions.

Still, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) have not covered themselves with glory either. It is not good form to complain about the lack of sportsmanship from one side while throwing a petulant dummy spit yourself. India does have legitimate grievances with regards to the umpiring and possibly with Harbhajan’s hearing. But the BCCI’s attempt to heavy the ICC and the Australian cricket Association was the wrong way to go about things.

As for the Australian team in general, yes they did display a singular lack of graciousness in victory. But the talk of Australia being arrogant and boorish is becoming boring itself.

Australia’s arrogance is more a perception that comes from the fact that they are the best bloody team in the world. While the odd team can match them for a session or a day here and there, Australia’s style of play is relentless. They train harder and play harder than any other team. Note that more than one international side has an Australian coach. Teams want to emulate that style of play. Of course the ends does not justify the means but aggressive as Australia is, other teams that point the finger in regards to their “sportsmanship” aren’t exactly squeaky clean themselves in regards to un-cricket like behavior.

Events will cool down and the players will get back to the game and the Third test will be a cracker. But thinking this issue over, there is indeed one party involved in this affair that has benefited from the barney.

Effigy makers. Especially those that do a good Ponting or Bucknor.

Elsewhere: Tony at After Grog Blog and Andrew Bartlett offer their views.

Cross posted at Sidelined