26 Blind Cameras
England vs Pakistan, 4th Test, The Oval 2006
This is all rather good. I’ve just been watching Bob Woolmer holding a few press conferences and he has taken on a Tony Soprano like persona. His tracksuit has become full of swagger and there is a touch of menace in his walk. By golly I think he’s gonna pop a cap in Darryl Hair’s ass.
It’s now ten to one in the morning (New Zealand time), so we’re approaching the first 24 hours after the Pakistani sit-in. It’s probably way too early to be reaching any sort of firm conclusion about who’s in the right and who’s in the poo, but here’s my twopence ha’ penny worth.
- Darryl Hair has not pointed the finger at any one individual for ball tampering, Athers will tell you this is odd.
- The vehement denials from the Pakistani camp suggest they are either innocent of wrongdoing or are prepared to have egg on their face
- 26 Cameras have (so far) not revealed any footage of wrongdoing
- Darryl Hair’s attitude to Inzy on the field appeared to be very discourteous and dismissive
- The umpires have potentially failed to apply the rules in a manner that would have seen a continuance of the Test
This last point is interesting to me. Under my understanding of the rules (someone please tell Bumble how to pronounce ascertain) the umpires have an implicit obligation to let the team know that their actions are being interpreted as a forfeiture in order to give them a chance to stop the action.
Or in other words, its a final warning. Imagine if you will, that the conversation between Darryl and Inzy could have gone something like this;
Darryl: Inzy me old sport, you fellas better get yourselves out there or we’re gonna call the game off.
Inzy: F**k! Really, OK give me 2 minutes to finish this can of Pepsi Max and we’ll be right down
Darryl: Jeez Inzy, that Pepsi stuff will rot your teeth.
Instead of this however, the conversation allegedly went something like this;
Darryl: Hey Inzy, you gonna play or what?
Inzy: You gonna tell me why you changed the ball?
Darryl: Nope, Oh and by the way, you just lost the game
The difference between the 2 dialogues is the obvious lack of a get out clause in the alleged conversation that took place. There was not a clear notice given to Pakistan and this could have avoided the match deteriorating into the spectacle we saw yesterday.
The Oval is getting good at these. The last Ashes match petered out into a similarly strange ending last year, when a lack of clear umpiring common sense affected the game in a negative manner.
I could write for days about all this but my daughter has just climbed into bed with us and my tapping on the keyboard is keeping her awake.
Posted: August 22nd, 2006 under Cricket.
Comments: 6
Comments
Comment from S Jagadish
Time: August 22, 2006, 2:26 am
Fair enough, Chris. But Inzy ought to have known the rules … or someone in the Pakistan setup should have told him that if his side didn’t go out on the field when there were 4 others (2 umpires & 2 batsmen) waiting, he was accepting that he was conceding the game.
Comment from Chris
Time: August 22, 2006, 9:18 am
Perhaps. The trouble is that there is no real sequence of precedents for the Pakistani’s so I guess it was always going to be a fine line they walked.
Comment from S Jagadish
Time: August 22, 2006, 9:12 pm
It’s a rule, not having a precedent doesn’t mean you can be ignorant about it.
My guess is that there’re more than a handful of cricketers who actually know even some of the basic rules. When I was watching what was happening after ESPN returned to the post-tea action, my first thought was “If a batsman doesn’t turn up with 2 minutes, he gets timed out. What’s the penalty if the entire bowling side stays put in the dressing room?” I then realized this was effectively a forfeit of the game!
Comment from S Jagadish
Time: August 22, 2006, 9:13 pm
Err … I meant “there’re NOT more than a handful of”
Comment from Chris
Time: August 22, 2006, 11:33 pm
I agree that its not a stretch to imagine that the players don’t know the rule book cover to cover, but surely this is even more reason for a cautious and dare I say consultative approach (by the officials) in such unusual circumstances as these.
Comment from tasmeena
Time: August 23, 2006, 4:34 am
DEAR SIR
DARREL SHOULD RESIGN
REVERSE SWING CONTROVERSY
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Before I may say anything let me assure you that I am an ardent fan of Cricket and I love this game so whatever I say is not due to partialism.
I am going to be straight forward in what I want to say….no diplomatic ways of narration…because I have had enough of whining and worst spotsmanship by the English….
Today we have had another drama about Reverse Swing……Last year when Jones,Flintoff and Hoggard were reverse swinging ,never was the ball shown to be examined by umpires and it was taken to be just a case of an art being put in practice….!! The English Trio was hailed as MASTERS OF REVERSE SWING…!!!! No one found anything wrong….
Now I want to take you back almost 15 years in the past….1990-91…. West Indies Captain D.Haynes and New zealand Captain M.Crowe “ACCUSED” Pakistan for doing “something ” to the ball….In fact it was just because they were whiners who could not take defeats fairly……Similarly in 1992 English media,newspapers,Players and dare I say even children and housewives went up in unison that PAKISTAN is tempering with ball….!!! Fact was that ENGLISH were totally oblivious with regards to this art…They did not know about it altogether…
Hence each English player thought “if I don’t know how to do it then it must be something illegal …so why NOT accuse the other party and hide my embarrasment of defeat through these allegations…”
Plainly I can say that if Person A does not know how to solve mathematical equations but person B does …then if A accuses B to be proponent of witch craft…then it will be a sad case of accusation due to one’s own less-learned approach…!!! That is exactly what has been happening till last year when finally England learned to reverse swing….
It is on record that once I.Botham said …”THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS REVERSE SWING…IT IS ALL BUT PURE CHEATING” and now he is seen saying “ENGLAND BOWLERS ARE THE MASTERS OF REVERSE SWING….”
HMMMM …How quickly one can change one’s words and thoughts……I even read in in English newspapers last year that reverse swing is as old as 1930’s and has been in practice in England…since then….how amazing….!!!!
Now today when England thought they were going to lose fairly and squarely….an old “ally” came to their rescue..in the form of ever controversial, highly inept DARREL HAIR…Who seems to plagued with different “HUMAN ERRORS OF JUDGEMENT” whenever he is adjudicating on an appeal raised by Indian, Pakistani,Srilankan player…..He might not hear a big nick from 22 yards though it might be heard by a sparrow sitting 75 yards away on boundary..!!!
He can ask for banning players for “over appealing” , he can warn bowlers and even batsmen for tempering with wicket…by running on it (only Asians have been accused by him..be it TENDULKAR,SALMAN BUT OR KANERIA…)…
Then he can call a bowler a chucker…be it Murali,Afridi, Akhtar,Shabbir or Hafeez….
Still he is on elite panel….Pakistan team have lodged official complaints about this HIGHLY PARTIAL umpire at least 3 times in 5 years…but still he is seen officiating no other match but those involving Pakistan,,….
Fact of the matter is that with the passage of time this man has been growing wild with respect to Asian countries…and now he has started going really berserk….What happened today is totally INCOMPREHENSIBLE…..
When after each over the ball is examined then how on earth the ball was deemed to be tempered so suddenly…….
It is a fact that HAIR must be congratulated that in Cricket History …he is only the second umpire after T.Robinson from Zimbabwe ..who actually tempered with the ball….yes T.Robinson actually soaked a ball in water after he saw it reversing for Pakistan during a match in 1998….
Today, I am sure that it was HAIR who scratched the ball with blades during some break….WHY DO WE ALWAYS ACCUSE TEAMS…IF ROBINSON DID IT IN 1998 why can’t Hair do it in 2006….
I think we should look this matter from other PERSPECTIVE…..Justice can only be met if impartialty is met with….
Because when umpires are always checking ball how can it be tempered…if and only if they are BLIND or if they are tempering with it themselves….
Nowadays cameras are there…millions are watching on TV and scores of officials on ground are there….nowadays ball can not be scratched so easily by players …unless an umpire DOES it himself …YES an umpire can temper with the ball legally …on the pretext of setting the seem of ball right by plucking with blades………!!!!!!
So before getting on to any conclusion I think looking at track record of this HIGHLY PARTIAL and dare I say very very rude umpire ….if justice is to be maintained then he should also be probed…..and what to say about his fellow umpire BILLY DOCTROVE….Who dileberately did not give Jimmy Adams caught behind against Pakistan in 2000 and Pakistan lost….later on he went into Pakistan dressing room…and officially apologized for partial umpiring…!!! wow…and still he is on elite panel and officiating in allaince with D.HAIR…
I think if fast bowlers can hunt in pairs then shrewd and dishonest umpires can also hunt as well as hurt in pairs….!!!!!
I think umpires are not beyond the game…they are part of it and they are human too…so they can resort to vindictism and wrong doing…so why not probe them too………
CASE CLOSED……
A VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED FAN OF GAME OF GENTLEMEN…!!!!
Write a comment