Cricket Controversy...It Just Ain't Cricket!

So, India has lost the second test match in Australia and consequently the series. And Harbhajan Singh has been sent packing for being found guilty of calling Andrew Symonds names. The second test match has been fraught with controversial umpiring decisions and to top it all off, Kumble, the Indian captain, in the post test match press conference said that 'Only one team was playing within the spirit of the game' and Ricky Ponting was quite angrily defended his own integrity after being aggressively questioned by a journalist.

Now, I am no sporting expert, although I have been a cricket follower for over 25 years(yup, I'm that old!) after a certain family member dominated television viewing every summer when growing up! I also am the mother of a cricket fanatic now so perhaps it is for these reasons that I can't help commenting about all this on here.

Firstly, I don't care which country you play for, sledging in any sport is just not on. Ok, there is an appeal being lodged but if Harbhajan is found guilty I will be so disappointed. I have watched him bowl and think that he's such a talented player. I watched a Cricket Show interview with him at his own home in India that aired just a few days ago - yep, am occasionally one of those sad people who even watch the lunchtime shows - and was at the time very impressed with him as a person. I am hoping that he will come out and say that his actions were borne from some frustration, misunderstanding or ignorance at the difference in cultural language or the like. Whatever! It angers me though that as a mother, I had to have a discussion with my twelve year old on the fact that this behaviour from elite sportspeople is just not on. And in case anyone doesn't get it....cricket loving twelve year olds like mine go out and try to emulate their cricketing heroes. It may not be ideal that these sportspeople are upheld with such revere but it is a fact of life. And I think that every high class athlete should be given mandatory lessons on how to handle themselves in the public eye and be aware that kids idolise them!

Secondly, there is the whole controversial, 'Should he have walked?' discussion around Andrew Symonds (for non cricket lovers reading this, what happened was that Symonds knew he had nicked the ball to the keeper and was out but stood his ground and waited for the umpire's decision which was 'not out'). I have mulled over this for a few days now. Certainly, there are many, many times when players are given out although they know for a fact that they weren't but in the spirit of respectful play, they abide by the umpire's decision and walk off the field. Should the same thing then be allowed in reverse? Certainly, there are others on the same team who would have walked. So does standing your ground and once again abiding by the umpire's decision, no matter how wrong they are, make it ok??? I still am unsure about the answer, but let's face it, the decision was made in the blink of an eye by both the player and the umpire; they are all only human and I guess that they had to do what they could morally live with. Does this make Symonds' decision incorrect? Many would think so but the facts are that he stayed, went on to make over 150 runs and Australia won the game. Facts don't change! Get over it! There are many greater and more informed people out there arguing the need for more better umpires and 3rd umpire power during a game etc, but I do know that we teach our children that the umpire's decision is final. No argument! End of story! Personally, I probably would have walked but I can't decide if that means that we should condemn a fantastic player because he didn't.

I watched the post match press conference with mixed feelings. Well, see for yourself. One thing is for certain, it has all put a sad feel onto the game itself. Hopefully, it is something that we will all get over but it in my humble opinion the controversy has overshadowed other fantastic aspects of the game like a number of centuries, the tenseness of the last over and the fact that the Indian team really did put up one of the best competitions that we've seen here in a long time.

And finally, I think that Kumble sums it all up when he says, 'It's a game after all. At the end of the day, it's a game....! You can't really take things so much that it affects your life!' Well said, and I can't wait for both teams to come here in February to play in the ODI....I wouldn't miss it for the world!