What a Shame !

On a recent trip to Costa Rica, I met an Australian who had backpacked for 4 months through Europe and was on his final stop in Costa Rica. It wasn't long before our conversations shifted to cricket, and after checking his watch he remarked that the boxing day test gets underway in 2 hours time, and this would be the first MCG test in 12 years that he would be missing. But his next remark shocked me, "I wish the Australians lose, they are becoming too arrogant". As I reflect back on his remark, I could not have agreed more with him.

What transpired on day 5 at the SCG has definitely put the whole cricketing fraternity to shame. A perfectly fought 4 days of test match ended on an abject note courtesy some egregious umpiring and unsportsman like conduct by the Aussies. With the tour itself in jeopardy, the gash left in the aftermath of the verbal duel, and umpring blunders will take a long time to heal. Its a shame that the record breaking 16th consecutive win would forever be tainted by an undeserved victory marred by a few remorseless players and the high handedness of the governing cricketing body.

A stoic and diplomatic Indian skipper Anil Kumble stood in stark contrast to a condescending Australian skipper Ricky Ponting. Raw talent may get you instant success, but you need character to gain a lifetime of fame - a lesson Ricky Ponting will have to learn if he pines to enter the pantheons of the game. In many ways Ricky succeeded in imbibing the aggressive instincts of his predecessors Mark Taylor & Steve Waugh, but failed miserably in grabbing Taylors humility or Waughs diplomacy.

Cricket - A game founded by colonists, still retains its authoritian roots in the form of the almighty umpires, whose decisions should be never doubted or dissected. When a player nicks a catch and doesn't walk, he is touted dishonest. But the same player who stands grounds and disagrees with the umpire when he has clearly not edged the ball, is branded a rebel and worse slapped a hefty fine. Under such hypocritical circumstances, it is indeed farcical to even invoke a semblance of the word integrity on the field. As the Indians tamely walked back to the pavilion in the face of poor decisions handed out to them, the umpires remained unscathed. Its unfortunate that with such unprecended advent of technology, the game still relies for most part, on the 2 pair of naked eyes on the field to make crucial decisions instead of reverting to a camera and computer, aided third umpire. Why is the game resisting to usher in technology ? Is it more important to preserve the tradition and keep the game "uncorrupted" at the cost of not being fair and unbaised ?

On the topic of sledging, I have always believed that the actions taken have been retroactive and not substantiated by enough evidence. I think people need to realise that chiding, and abusing happens in every sport around the world, and in every form of game right from tennis-ball-gully cricket to the international scene. This doesn't mean we pardon them. Racism is definitely abominable and must be eradicated in a systematic manner. If the authorities feel the burden of erasing this from the game, they need to be more pro-active and take measures like planting microphones on the field to pin point the culprit, rather than framing the guilty based on a jury of his accusers.

From the day I started following cricket , World Cup 1992, I have been an ardent Aussie fan. I have cheered them through their highs and lows. In many ways, they single handedly transformed test cricket by batting at over 4 runs per over, making sportive declarations and trying their best to produce results in every test match they played. Their domination has been of dynastic proportions in both forms of cricket, and through their clinical precision they have also managed to win over fans despite allegations of sledging and rasict undertones. I have often sidetracked these unpleasant incidents by taking umbrage of great characters like Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh & Ian Healy. Unfortunately, with the current crop of australian cricketers, I fall miserably short in this endeavour.