Rain, No Play

 

Steve Bucknor may have umpired his last Test match. And if indeed Bucknor's umpiring career is over, then it was a horrible way for one of the more respected umpires over the last 15 years to go out. Bucknor's reputation as an elite umpire has been steadily eroding as age caught up to him, but some of his decisions in last week's India-Australia Test shown in the video above were absolutely shocking. Malcolm Speed, head of the ICC has said that Bucknor would not be removed from future consideration from Test matches, but it is entirely possible that Bucknor would have umpired his last Test. That Bucknor has been removed is further evidence of the weakness of the ICC as it bowed to the wealthy Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Indians had threatened to withdraw from the remainder of the tour.

 

Bucknor's removal for the last Test at Perth is the latest twist in an ongoing saga in which India threatened to abandon the remainder of the tour after spinner Harbhajan Singh was banned for three matches for an alleged racial slur. Singh is alleged to have called Andrew Symonds, the lone black man in the Aussie side, a "monkey". Harbhajan was reported to the match umpires by Australian captain, Ricky Ponting. The umpires then presented the charge to a panel which sided with Symonds even though neither on field umpire heard the remark and the Indians deny that Harbhajan said it.

 

Racial slurs should not be tolerated as they have no place in cricket. I personally believe that Harbhajan said the remark, and reading this article on CNN where it says that

 

Indian crowds targeted Symonds last year when Australia toured the subcontinent. Spectators heckled him, made monkey noises and held up insulting placards, at least one of which referred to him as a monkey

 

reminded me of a blog post I read during the West Indies tour to India in January 2007, where an Indian author was concerned about potentially racist Indian TV ads. The CNN piece then goes on to state:

 

The Australian newspaper Monday quoted the head of the Sydney-based United Indian Association as saying that "monkey" was not considered to be a racist term in India.

 

"Considering that the Monkey God is one of the revered idols of Hindu mythology and worshipped by millions, it is surprising it was considered a racist term," UIA president Raj Natarajan said.

 

Now if this is true then there are serious questions that Indian society needs to ask itself about how it treats people of different races. Calling a black man a "monkey" maybe no big deal in India, but in Western culture it is inflammatory. And certainly it defies belief that those Indian fans who called Symonds a "monkey" last year were not being racist.

 

Back to the Australians though, they are the last team that should complain about another team's behaviour. The Aussies are typically brash, combative and almost abusive of their opponents on the field. And that's putting it in its best light possible. Certainly one can imagine what Symonds, a noted sledger, would have said to Harbhajan before Harbhajan responded. I vividly remember Robert Samuels' recount of the abuse he faced when in his last Test in 1997 he made 76 and with Brian Lara's century batted the Windies to victory. He was told words about his mother that are not fit for print.

 

Likewise in this match the Aussies "sledged", harrased, verbally abused, or whatever you want to call it, the Indians. The Aussies will say that it is part of their "culture", but while "trash-talking" is part of North American sports such as basketball, it has no place, in my opinion, in the gentleman's game. In response to the Australians' charge of racial abuse by Harbajhan the Indians' have filed a similar complaint against Australian spinner Brad Hogg, who is alleged to have called an Indian player a 'bastard'.

 

The verbal abuse, though, is one thing. Playing dishonorably is another. Even in the blurry Youtube video above, one can clearly see that Ponting claimed a slip catch on the bump. Ponting claims he caught the ball cleanly, but a slip fielder can usually tell when the ball lands cleanly in his palms (from the ball falling downward) or when it bounces up off the ground into his palm. I frankly do not believe Ponting. I have seen the Aussies claim too many catches that were bump balls, or appeal for too many caught behinds where bat didn't touch ball, to know that Australia takes liberty with the spirit of "the gentleman's game".

 

Maybe Australian journalist Peter Roebuck had it right when he called for Ponting's sacking as captain as he wrote about the Aussies' arrogant display:

 

Beyond comparison it was the ugliest performance put up by an Australian side for 20 years. ... It was a wretched and ill-mannered display and not to be endured from any side, let alone an international outfit representing a proud sporting nation.

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