Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Where is our coach?

Remember this incident:

Port Elizabeth, December 9, 1992

A straightforward win by South Africa will be remembered less than the controversy which ensued when Kapil Dev ran out Gary Kirsten for backing up before he bowled the ball.
Kapil did not warn the batsman, having done so three times previously on the tour. Kirsten reacted angrily before walking off.
Later, in the same over, Kepler Wessels appears to collide with Kapil as he turned for a second run. India complained that Wessels had hit Kapil on the shin with his bat. The Indians said Kirsten had shown dissent and incited the crowd.
Clive Lloyd, the match referee, announced the next day that Wessels had admitted that his bat had come into contact with Kapil, but said it was unintentional.
Llyod did not see the incident and, as the television cameras had been following the ball, he said the truth could not be established. Kirsten was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for unacceptable conduct.

http://penthegame.blogspot.com/2006/12/india-south-africa-odi-encounters.html

Two cases in point:
1) Since the Wessels incident could not be proved, he was let off. I am sure there have been many instances like this where the player has been let off because of lack of concrete evidence - the real problem in the Bhajji-Symonds case is not whether 'monkey' should be
considered a racial slur, its that there is NO proof Bhajji said that. It's Symonds' and Ponting's (who was nowhere near the location where the incident occurred) word vs. Bhajji's and Tendulkar's (who was within hearing distance and categorically denied that Bhajji made a
racial slur) word. This is just ridiculous. The match referee should also be fired - India can suggest that Bhajji was wrongly accused by a bunch of white blokes (including the referee) and we should bring in racial connotations to this incident.

2) I wonder why Gary Kirsten hasn't said anything regarding this incident. I would have expected him to whole-heartedly support the Indian case (no matter whether he is with the team or not for now), since he is going to join the Indian team as a coach very soon. I am
very surprised that he hasn't come all out in support of the team. I don't get a good feel about this. This almost reeks of disinterest, and is not the best way to start a coaching stint.

We should get back at the aussies by reporting any verbal abuse - I don't think the aussies can play without abusing. If they call someone a 'bastard', that should be reported as an insult. The
batsmen should wear some audio recording equipment when they are out in the middle for proof - the whole world will then have proof of the cheats and hooligans that the aussies are!

Or do what Sarwan did to McGrath - McGrath asked Sarwan how did Lara's c*ck taste in the dressing room, to which Sarwan replied, 'How should I know -- ask your wife'.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

good one. 'cos i hadnt heard of the incident in its full version.

i always thought sarwan was in the wrong. good that sarwan showed him his rightful place! so much for mcgrath and his filthy mouth + attitude!