Apologies in advance, an insular cricket article, and a picture …
As usual, I agree with the more considered cricket commentators such as Lawrence Booth and Peter Roebuck, and hence disagree with many of my fellow Indians … I think the umpire's decision is final and we should respect the result of the test match. We lost. The incompetence of the umpires contributed to the bad luck. Yet there is no reason to suspend the tour, or even to threaten to suspend the tour. If Bhaji wins his appeal, great. But we cannot threaten to pull out just because we can afford to do so. It's financial bullying and brinkmanship.
As usual, I agree with the more considered cricket commentators such as Lawrence Booth and Peter Roebuck, and hence disagree with many of my fellow Indians … I think the umpire's decision is final and we should respect the result of the test match. We lost. The incompetence of the umpires contributed to the bad luck. Yet there is no reason to suspend the tour, or even to threaten to suspend the tour. If Bhaji wins his appeal, great. But we cannot threaten to pull out just because we can afford to do so. It's financial bullying and brinkmanship.
And the picture ... I fully credit the blogger Prem Panicker for it, but I cannot verify its authenticity, and if it is revealed to be doctored then I will take it down immediately. It does not change the result of the test match, we still lost. But if the picture is genuine then the Australian captain has some serious explaining to do.
4 comments:
Any decent video?
I firmly believe in umpire's decision.
Was the ball under control before it touched the ground? I think it was. However, I also think that the umpires are there to adjudicate, and the decisions should be theirs and theirs alone. You take the good and the bad. Do you really think that the umpire cares who the batsman or bowler is?
Thanks for the comment Peter. Actually I think that if the ball touches the ground before the umpire has accepted a catch then it should be not out. We can perhaps show some leeway where it is thrown high into the air in celebration, but this is different. To me this is a far more serious issue than the sledging.
I am aware of enough history of cricket to accept not-walking and dubious LBW appeals, those are fair enough in the present climate. However, this incident shows that despite his prior assertion Ponting cannot be trusted to make an honest assessment of a catch, and as you say, we should leave it to the umpires to do the best that they can under the circumstances.
However I appreciate your comment, and can only hope the next test will be just as exciting as the last, but without the bitter aftertaste.
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