Two mouth-watering cricket contests kick off today ufffd South Africa vs India in Centurion and Australia vs England in Perth
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Two mouth-watering cricket contests kick off today ufffd South Africa vs India in Centurion and Australia vs England in Perth.
The Test Down Under will witness the use of the controversial Umpire Decision Review System which the Indians don't want to have anything to do with it. That some countries can actually refuse a system that has the support of the International Cricket Council is beyond belief.
If views expressed by experts at the inaugural edition of the Raj Singh Dungarpur World Cricket Summit in New Delhi are anything to by, the game's ruling body has been a deterrent instead of being a facilitator.
Former Australia captain Bob Simpson, who wore several hats in his post-playing career including that of a match referee, revealed how the ICC did not seem to be too worried about the chucking problem in the late 1990s at a meeting for match referees held in Mumbai in 1997. Sir Clyde Walcott headed the ICC then.
Dr Ali Bacher, more known for his dynamic administration than for leading a South African team which whitewashed a full Aussie Test side 4-0 in 1969-70, told the gathering on Tuesday that he twice encouraged discussion about "loose talk" concerning betting and match-fixing at ICC meetings, but his views were not taken seriously. They did not even find mention in the minutes of the meetings. The ICC just didn't want to know.
And Bishan Singh Bedi has been saying for years that the ICC doesn't do enough to check the prosperity of chuckers. Bedi had a point when he said that it didn't require great investigation and undercover agents to rid the sport of this evil because it is happening right under the noses of the men who call the shots in world cricket.u00a0u00a0 He has used some strong words to describe the bowling action of the Sri Lankan. His reply to Ayaz Memon, the cricket expert who conducted the summit on Tuesday night was amusing.
"Why should everyone bowl like Bishan Bedi," asked Memon in Muralitharan's defence. "Why not," shot back Bedi. And he was not joking!
When the Sardar of Spin wrote a column for this newspaper during the 2003 World Cup, we decided to call it 'Bishan Impossible'. It was apt because he can be just that to convince.
To get back to the point about the ICC, it now seems impossible to expect the body to make cricket a well-run game. Should a ray of form come in the form of the great uncertainties we associated this game to?
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