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.

Post from: EveryJoe

Coins, Cricket, and Conspiracy