Administrators' personal ambitions outweigh everything else
Daryll Hair, the daredevil Australian umpire created an uproar a few seasons ago, when he called the Sri Lankan off-spinner, Muthiah Muralidharan for chucking
Woorkheri Raman
14-Jul-2000
Daryll Hair, the daredevil Australian umpire created an uproar a few
seasons ago, when he called the Sri Lankan off-spinner, Muthiah
Muralidharan for chucking. The Sri Lankan team management, along with
the support of its apex body, reacted very strongly and they almost
suggested that there was a hint of bias on the part of Hair.
Unperturbed by the stream of statements emerging from the officials of
BCCSL, Hair kept on vindicating his stand and maintained that
Muralidharan's action was illegal as per the laws of the game.
Gradually it came to a sort of a face-off situation between the Sri
Lankan off-spinner and the umpire. The opinions were divided and one
of the former Australian captains commentating on the TV mentioned
that Hair was carrying the issue too far.
While it is debatable whether a naked eye can actually pinpoint the
illegality of any bowler's action, the umpire officiating on the field
does have the authority to no ball a bowler for chucking. After the
fierce protests from the Sri Lankans authorities, the matter was
referred to the ICC to pass a verdict. The ICC not surprisingly
constituted a committee to decide on the future of any bowler
suspected of chucking based on a report from the match referee.
Furthermore, the ICC suggested that the respective cricket boards were
advised to take steps to initiate the corrective measures. Fred
Titmus, the former English off-spinner was given the job of rectifying
and giving the ultimate certificate.
In the case of Muralidharan, the opinion of several medical experts
was sought and it was established that Muralidharan's supposed
handicap rendered him incapable of extending the arm. Eventually
Muralidharan was given the clean chit and since then he has proved to
the main strike bowler for Sri Lanka and he looks all set to end up as
one of the leading wicket takers in the game. The Muralidharan-Hair
controversy served as a precedent for a lot of referees to submit
reports which were none too flattering about various bowlers from all
over the world.
Rajesh Chauhan, Henry Olonga, Harbhajan Singh, Shoaib Akhtar, to name
a few, were reported to the ICC. Chauhan and Harbhajan after getting
dropped from the Indian team, were made to go to England and
miraculously their actions were rectified overnight by Titmus. If this
can be called as eyewash, one is left to wonder what term can be used
to describe the ICC's decision with regard to Shoaib Akhtar. The young
speedster's action came under scrutiny during the Test series against
Australia.
The ICC initially imposed a temporary ban on Akhtar after the
committee ruled his action illegal. Suddenly there was a volte-face
when the then ICC President issued a sagacious statement that Akhtar
can be allowed to play in the one-dayers as no bouncers are allowed in
the limited version of the game! Obviously there must have some
pressure applied by the PCB behind the scenes to effect this turn
around. The Australians on their part raised no objections and felt
Akhtar was too sensational a bowler to be kept away from the game.
There were few snide remarks made to the effect the Aussies were not
too keen to throw stones at others when they had Brett Lee in their
ranks.
Lee has hit the headlines for the same reasons as Akhtar did some time
ago. The statement from one of the bio-mechanic experts in Australia
was a bit too ridiculous to be true. If one gets his drift right, then
any and every bowler must have chucked. Considering the fact that the
cricket world has seen some great fast bowlers from Australia like
Lillee and Thomson thrill the spectators, the expert must think hard
before he issues a statement the next time around.
With the ICC struggling to cope with the chucking issue, another issue
has re-emerged with Waqar Younis being hauled up for evidently
tampering with the ball. Typical of the PCB, they have responded with
a threat to pull out from the triangular series currently being played
in Sri Lanka. The ball tampering issue took a nasty turn sometime ago
when a lot of big names were involved in it. Imran Khan won a legal
battle against the larger than life characters like Botham and Lamb
with regard to the same issue.
Now then the obvious question would be "What exactly is the ICC doing
about all these issues?" Well "Sweet nothing" should be the apt
answer. To make matters worse, the former ICC President went on record
about being aware of some cricketers being involved in match fixing.
It would have proved difficult to garner either the right information
or clinching evidence but there is no excuse for not showing any
inclination to even constitute an enquiry based on his knowledge.
Obviously, all these administrators are consistent in ensuring that no
muck is brought up during their tenure. On the other hand, these are
the same people who start throwing hot water under the feet of the
present management of the very same organisation they were a part off
sometime ago.
Regardless of all the explanations that are there to be had, it will
not be amiss to conclude that personal ambitions of some
administrators outweigh everything else.