Coins, Cricket, and Conspiracy
January 8, 2008 by Dinsa Sachan
Filed under Tennis
Eat Cricket, Drink Cricket, Sleep Cricket
News is that umpire Steve Bucknor won’t officiate at Perth, which means Billy Bowden will be replacing him. And there’s another news that Harbhajan Singh’s ban has been suspended 
following BCCI’s appeal against the same, which means he can play the rest of the matches. Of course, the team management will decide if he’ll play or not.
Huh, well.
Coins: Actually, this move by the ICC just goes on to show that bucks matter a lot, even if they’ve sworn to the contrary:
the decision was made in the interests of giving the series a fresh start following instances of ill-feeling between the teams and some on-field umpiring errors that have been made in the series so far. It is also designed to create an environment whereby the match can be played without undue attention and added pressure being heaped on the match officials.
Conspiracy: This is the first time ICC has decided to sack an umpire on a team’s request. This shouldn’t have happened. Would FIFA remove a referee if one of the teams complained about them? It only shows ICC doesn’t know how to be in control of things.
(Indians: Consider this from a non-Indian’s perspective. You’ll get my point.)
Cricket: Thanks heaven, we’ll have some actual whacking bats around a cricket pitch. I wonder what BCCI would have done if Harbhajan hadn’t been provincially acquitted. Perth is a bouncy wicket, and it makes sense to play Yuvraj Singh. He deserves a few more chances. Sehwag, anyone? Why not allow Dhoni to let his locks down and enjoy the view from the pavilion instead for a while?
Don’t forget to check out Baseer’s post.
Dinnie,
You can’t possibly say Bucknor has been removed on India’s request when Speed himself argued to the contrary ;) Anyway as a neutral taking interest in the series, I’d have to say its a fair call. At least a precedent has been set that umpires can’t go on making poor decisions.
Hmm, as far as the Indian team selections go I think Yuvraj might have a case to play at Perth. I am not sure if Sehwag would be suited but Dinesh Karthik certainly needs to come in at Jaffer’s expense!
As for Australia, they need to get Tait in either for Johnson or Hogg. Hayden seems to be out with an injury. If he can’t play, I personally hope that Mike Hussey moves to open and David Hussey gets in the team. He sure deserves a spot as far as I am concerned.
As a non indian, i think Bucknor should have been dropped. You cannot make that many decisions incorrectly and then expect to be umpiring the next test.
Mind you i would have dropped him after he made the world cup final a night night game.
Umpires should be dropped when their form tapers off just like everyone else. Especially commentators.
Tate will come in for Hogg. Lee and Tate at the WACA, there’s going to be some very sore Indian batsman. Don’t be surprised to see a few of them walking out of fear.
@ Uncle J: I am not being sweet on Bucknor either.
That’s the point. He wasn’t dropped after the WC final, but here at BCCI’s call, ICC has no problem sacking him.
Other than that, I think he should have been retired ages ago.
Good morning, btw.
@ Marlin
Ozzie bowlers better behave. Or BCCI will ask the ICC to sack them, too.
Welcome, Marlin, btw, to Six and Out.
@ Marlin… fear? He is a good enough bowler to pick a lot of wickets against the Indians… but fear? He is a overrated pussy cat on the fear factor. But finally, an all-out pace attack comprising of the fastest set of bowlers in the world… good if you like a bowlers role in cricket.
Dinnie, I would still appreciate Bucknor for being a good umpire during his hay days… that’s one thing which no controversy should take that away from him.
I think Lee does quite well in the fear stakes. He comes across as a lovely guy, but that doesn’t change the fact he can bowl a bouncer that follows the batsman at 150km/h and no batsman likes the idea of being hit in the grill.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.