Originally posted by anzac
player's safety should not be the only decisive issue regarding crowd disruptions, particularly when there is a consistant (& persistant) pattern!!
Repeated distrubances could be looked upon as the ultimate form of sledging - never intending to cause physical harm to the players but certainly detrimental to their performance on the field - something like the old workforce rules regarding 'conditions of work' etc....
we have seen tours cancelled because of violence that had nothing to do with the tours, and we have seen nations banned re their internal politics - why shouldn't a strong stance be taken regarding the situation in India, or is that too much of a political 'hot potatoe' for the ICC????
the notion that this is nothing unusual & we should just get on with it is a cop out and a piss poor excuse for doing nothing...
I may be going out on a limb here and stirring up a hornets nest, but this sort of crap that occurs has been going on for too long - I am aware of crowd violence / disturbances in India 30 years ago and it is about time something was done to deter it - it does not matter if it only occurs every now and then or not!!!!!!
The governing bodies of other sports at both national and international levels have the gumption to take more affirmative action & so should the ICC & the national body of the home team!!!!
Shame on the ICC - they have got this wrong in more ways than 1, shame on the Indian governing body, shame on the 'terrace idiots', and shame on anyone who thinks this is 'normal' or should be tolerated!!!!!
India should be facing a situation where they have to forfeit the remainder of the Tour, with the points for the test matches awarded to WIndies. They should then be fined a % of the projected gate for the remainder of the matches with this being awarded to WIndies. If the national body does not put forward a suitable action plan to deter future incidents they should face having 'closed gate' home series or be banned from such competitions as the WC!!!!
These decisions need to be made without regard to the players or genuine supporters, as they need to demand their national body get's it right.
And just for the 'terrace element' - I would be advocating this action regardless of who the home nation involved was !!!!
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