'Afridi should apologise to cricket' - Boycott

[Laaloo]

Question: AR: And now to the question that you have picked as the best one for you this week. It's on an issue that prompted a whole host of people to write in - Prashanth from Kuwait, Haris Mohmad from USA, Mihir Shah from UK and Prakash Iyer from USA. They want to know: what is your opinion on Shahid Afridi's dubious action of biting the ball? Do you think a ban of two Twenty20s is adequate for an international captain who confessed to one of the most serious offences in cricket? And do you buy his claim that all teams around the world indulge in ball-tampering? What message does this send out to the world about Pakistani cricket or about Afridi himself? Boycott's Reply: GB: First of all, anybody who has heard me talk about Afridi in the recent past will know that I have been a big fan of his. I love his cricket and I like him as a person. I want to get that on record. But biting the ball was absolutely stupid and thoughtless. When he was caught and punished, he then tried to make every other team out to be cheats. If I was on the ICC panel and had disciplined him with suspending him for two Twenty20s, I would have listened to that statement and I would have taken that quote as bringing the game into disrepute and disrespecting players of the teams around the world and given him a ban of few more matches. When he makes a statement like that, it sends out an appalling message to cricketers all over the world. If the ICC had given him a further ban for his comments then that would have sent an even better message that these sort of remarks will not be tolerated. If he really knows that other teams are cheating then why doesn't he report them? He doesn't. He is just so embarrassed about his own performance that he tried to throw disrespectful comments at other people. It is not on and it was an appalling thing. If I was with him, I would tell him that as much as love his cricket, what he said was disgraceful and he ought to apologise to cricket and cricketers. Link: http://www.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/448778.html

[BDB_TMS]

I was surprised to see many Pak fans praising Afridi for the chomping act...:bumsmack:

[vvvslaxman]

I was surprised to see many Pak fans praising Afridi for the chomping act...:bumsmack:

Because he is their savior last standing :hysterical:

[BDB_TMS]

:haha:

Because he is their savior last standing :hysterical:

[achilles]

Boycs is right. Afridi did a fairly unacceptable thing. Glad he apologized to his fans and people in general.

[bsriharsha]

I agree with Boycs..what's most appalling is not that he bit the ball ... it's that he tried to justify his actions saying that "everyone does it" without any evidence to back it up... that itself shows what sorta character he is... Afridi should apologize to cricket first for degrading and briging the game into disrepute and then the pakistani cricket fraternity should hang their head in shame for even allowing such a cheap character a place in the team

[Ram]

Boycott generally voices very forthright and thoughtful opinions in his weekly cricinfo feature. Looks like he prepares for the questions well in advance. And why would Afridi apologize? He knew exactly what he was doing and what would be the 'repercussions' (Hint; Fastracked to the Pakistani captaincy in all three forms). Their whole cricket is just a muddled game for the different actors to score political and personal points. No one in their right mind would get within 100 miles of Pakistani cricket.

[bsriharsha]

in all three forms despite not playing a test in four years talunted player :hehe:

[Zap_Brannigan]

Afridi biting the ball wasnt that big of a deal to me considering that he is from pakistan but then calling everyone else a cheater and ICC not doing anything about it is the worst part of the whole event. Its also not a big deal if he becomes captain since he is representing pakistan, a team known for being cheaters anyway.

[Sachinism]

Absolutely agree with Boycott, ICC to look further into that statement. If ball-tampering is going on, either make it legal and punish the culprits and if his claims turn out to be more BS. He needs to be handed a heavier ban

[Gunner_Mania]

Absolutely agree with Boycott' date=' ICC to look further into that statement. If ball-tampering is going on, [b']either make it legal and punish the culprits and if his claims turn out to be more BS. He needs to be handed a heavier ban

How can some one be a culprit if it is made legal? :hmmm:

[Sachinism]

sorry that was supposed to say, 'either make it legal or punish the culprits'