***Official*** India in Australia

[Son Of Coco]

About as likely to happen though as a leopard growing a horn.

This'll definitely happen if they place him with an attractive lady leopard.

 

[silentstriker]

Benaud supports Ponting. 82% of Australians don't find him a good ambassador for cricket, which surprises me.

Another Aussie article calling on Ponting to give it up

On the other side:

Indian cricketers are very upset that the match referee supposedly decided it on the basis of hearsay:

The boys are simply unable to come to terms with the fact that he has been deemed guilty on the basis of hearsay. The team’s departure was delayed as they did not want to “take any chances with the paperwork required to file an appeal on behalf of Singh.”

-Statesman

India threw a hissy fit


So that is the overall set of opinions around the world. This isn't going away, it looks like.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Benaud supports Ponting. 82% of Australians don't find him a good ambassador for cricket, which surprises me.

Another Aussie article calling on Ponting to give it up

On the other side:

Indian cricketers are very upset that the match referee supposedly decided it on the basis of hearsay:

-Statesman

India threw a hissy fit


So that is the overall set of opinions around the world. This isn't going away, it looks like.

On another poll I heard on TV Ponting had 70-odd% of the support...so I guess it's a bit hit and miss.

 

[Isura]

Crazy how India may pull out of the tour because of this. I don't know the economics of it, but I'd imagine that the BCCI could hurt Australia pretty badly by pulling out of the one day series .

 

[silentstriker]

Crazy how India may pull out of the tour because of this. I don't know the economics of it, but I'd imagine that the BCCI could hurt Australia pretty badly by pulling out of the one day series .

A TV company quoted around $50 million USD. India would obviously be hurt too, but to a lesser degree, since they would find someone else to play with (though it wouldn't be as lucrative).

 

[Son Of Coco]

Crazy how India may pull out of the tour because of this. I don't know the economics of it, but I'd imagine that the BCCI could hurt Australia pretty badly by pulling out of the one day series .

I take it they'll be fined if they do...although it won't cover the costs.

 

[sideshowtim]

Lol. You do know what he said there right?

 

[Turbinator]

What did he say?

 

[Jono]

Lol. You do know what he said there right?

Pretty sure the "its 1-1 now you Aussie bastard" was a joke.

The real line was something about 'courage'.

 

[Nate]

Haha nah, Flintoff had a go at him. Says it in a column IIRC.

He's a bit of a prat, but at the end of the day, I'm behind Ponting.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

15 pages at max posts per page since last night. ITSTL.

 

[Johnners]

He's a bit of a prat, but at the end of the day, I'm behind Ponting.

AWTA, basically sums up my thoughts. Could've handled the press conference better, and probably should've just nodded his head (not that i think it matters) instead of raising his finger when Benson asked, but aside from that, it's overblowm imo.

 

[funnygirl]

I think he should have been charged for dissent but after setting the standard so low for Yuraj, what would have been the point he couldn't have been found guilty.. (From my perspective Yuraj was a worse case and the radio commentators seemed to concur but you have the right to disagree.)


Anyway answer my questions.

Should unpires work in an environment were they are free from interference from the players and officials of any team or country?

Yes ,they should .They were in MCG .No one interfered with them or their decisions .Why happened in SCG ,for obvious reasons .

Should all concerned work to ensure that umpires feel free from intimidation from people involved in the administrating or playing cricket?

Same with players also ,they should feel secure under an umpire .When he refused to consider 3rd umpire for close appeals or considering oppositions captains appeal .Players would feel insecure .So they will naturally be reluctant in the next match.

How does any board calling for the removal, suspension or resting of umpires/referees assist in help to maintain that umpires/referees act in a free and fair way without feeling intimidated?

Umpires should be accountable for their faults and it is the concerned authority of the player who have to intervene .Who else will speak for players .

There is an official process for handlind compliants against officials, boards should use that and public outburst that risk diminishing officiating independence should be punished

.

In this era of such media coverage that is not possible .

 

[silentstriker]

Lol. You do know what he said there right?

I guess I didn't make it clear with ''

 

[Top_Cat]

Pretty sure the "its 1-1 now you Aussie bastard" was a joke.

The real line was something about 'courage'.

Even if he did say the bastard line, I'm sure Brett Lee would have had a giggle inside, even a little bit.

As with many things which are offensive to many, it is often in the delivery too.

That Test was an epic test, though. I've seen many games in my time and after most of them, the sides hate each other for denying them the win. That one, I wondered at the time whether the players were going to give each other counselling afterwards.

 

[Top_Cat]

That Scopical article calling for Punter to give it up is hilarious. This part is especially vomitous;

In contrast, Steve Waugh meanwhile was a gracious, deserving and human leader, paying real respect to those opposite, yet equally competitive in his bid to deliver a win.

Punter may articulate praise a little less often than Waugh but come off it.

 

[Davey]

This is just out of control overall

i cant believe this is making front-page and BREAKING news in Australia?? i mean wtf?? come on guys its sport... arent there more important things for BREAKING NEWS?

That being said i disagree with the way the situation is being handled by India.. why pull out of the tour??? Every team gets bad decisions, as for the racist allegation against Harbajan Singh, deal with after the cricket?

 

[NJANJA]

Benaud supports Ponting. 82% of Australians don't find him a good ambassador for cricket, which surprises me.

Another Aussie article calling on Ponting to give it up

On the other side:

Indian cricketers are very upset that the match referee supposedly decided it on the basis of hearsay:

-Statesman

India threw a hissy fit


So that is the overall set of opinions around the world. This isn't going away, it looks like.

There seems to be some confusion about hearsay on this forum and elsewhere. It is not hearsay if a person gives evidence about what they personally and directly experienced, eg. what they overheard. Hearsay is evidence that is indirect, ie. "Mr X told me that he heard Mr Y abuse Mr Z."

In this case, there appears to be a number of Australians who directly heard Singh's racist comments, and so their evidence is not hearsay at all. Even a BCCI spokesman, Mr Ratnakar Shetty, accepts that there was direct evidence against Singh: ""There are two Australian cricketers who said they heard him saying the particular word..."

In any case, Proctor has confirmed that it was not simply a case of accepting Australian cricketers' evidence over Indian cricketers' evidence. Hopefully the appeal process sheds further (public) light on what other relevant considerations were taken into account by the independent and neutral match referee.

 

[Burgey]

Pretty sure the "its 1-1 now you Aussie bastard" was a joke.

The real line was something about 'courage'.

He'd want to be careful using the word "bastard"

 

[duffer]

There seems to be some confusion about hearsay on this forum and elsewhere. It is not hearsay if a person gives evidence about what they personally and directly experienced, eg. what they overheard. Hearsay is evidence that is indirect, ie. "Mr X told me that he heard Mr Y abuse Mr Z."

In this case, there appears to be a number of Australians who directly heard Singh's racist comments, and so their evidence is not hearsay at all. Even a BCCI spokesman, Mr Ratnakar Shetty, accepts that there was direct evidence against Singh: ""There are two Australian cricketers who said they heard him saying the particular word..."

In any case, Proctor has confirmed that it was not simply a case of accepting Australian cricketers' evidence over Indian cricketers' evidence. Hopefully the appeal process sheds further (public) light on what other relevant considerations were taken into account by the independent and neutral match referee.

Not the most reliable of evidence though. It only holds up if the witnesses are telling the truth, which is what's at question here.