Sanz said:
So basically you have no respect for ICC then ? You basically want ICC to ban him regardless of the findings, don't you ?? If the findings were in line with your views than It's good, otherwise it isn't and Aussie fans wont shut up. Kind of justifies Murali's decision to not tour.
No, that's not it.
When it comes to what the Laws of Cricket should be, then ICC is only in a position to make recommendations to the responsible body. If ICC chooses to approve playing conditions which differ markedly from the Laws of Cricket, then I expect that those who prefer the Laws to a cobbled-together kludge to allow someone to cheat will lose any remaining respect for or patience with ICC and won't be shy about protesting.
And as a Member of the responsible body, I can say that I will take a lot of convincing to vote for a change in the Law radical enough to accommodate the finger-spinner's doosra, because I really don't see how you frame it without allowing someone like SF Barnes to chuck, in which case he would be completely unplayable.
I didnt see Australians screaming 'Cheat', 'Cheat' when Mark Waugh and Shane Warne took money or When Shane warne took performance enhancing Drug or When Chappel bowled under-arm, when Slater claimed droppped catches and fought with the Umpire, when australian players abused others in the cricket ground because otherwise they were not able to get the batsman out ?
That would presumably be because you weren't looking.
From Adrian MacGregor's biography of Greg Chappell:
"Greg saw Howarth run on out of the corner of his eye as he raced off. The crowd [at the MCG] were bellowing a mixture of three-fifths booing, one of applause and the rest were dumbstruck. A small girl, about nine, leaped the fence and grabbed Greg by the arm. He was about to decline an autograph when she shouted 'You cheated! You cheated!' ....
"'We didn't fully understand what happened,' said Howarth. It was so momentous. It was the controversy of the century.'
"If it was not so already Richie Benaud was ensuring it would be.... in his post-match summary, Benaud was delivering one of the most astonishing pieces of invective ever levelled at an international cricket captain. He said: 'Well, there are 50,000 people here at the MCG today. I would hazard a guess that you might find three or at the very most four who wouldn't have a sinking feeling in their stomach at the moment of that last delivery.
"'Now you can have your own opinions about that. Let me tell you what mine is. I think it was a gutless performance by the Australian captain. It came about because he got his sums wrong....He and Kim Hughes and Rod Marsh were doing the sums on their fingers out there. I don't think we'll go too far into what they should be doing with their fingers at this moment.'"
.
That's just the underarm.
If you actually examined the other incidents you mention, rather than just drawing on a deep well of anti-Australian prejudice, you would find that there are large numbers of Australians who have very low opinions of Mark Waugh and Shane Worn, although it's fair to point out that neither of them have wilfully broken the Laws of Cricket while playing a match, which would tend to lessen the likelhood of people shouting at them from the stands about it, which is why you might not have heard any organised chanting at the SCG.
And so on.
I'm only too aware that Australian cricket crowds include substantial numbers of people who are exceptionally rude about the opposition, their players, their supporters and their country: I've watched Ashes Tests at the MCG and SCG, and have managed to stray into the wrong bar in Melbourne on one rather scary occasion.
Getting on the wrong side of the Australian crowd is not sensible, as many cricketers Australian and non-Australian have discovered over more than a century - but it is remarkable how they don't hold grudges. After all, Larwood lived the majority of his life in Australia.
Cheers,
Mike
