Pat Symcox....

[amiret]

writing about the Mike Denness-Sachin ball tampering affair in 2001 and the exciting Test Series between Ind & SA. Quite insightful. A Blast from the past.

Thank you for your contribution to cricket, Mr Denness, now get out of here and find a small English village to smoke your cigars and ponder on how the hell you could have created such an issue out of nothing. You have managed to cause untold damage to the game we all love through your total lack of insight and inconsistency and even more than that, you have embarrassed one of the greatest players that has ever lived. Shame on you. You're fired. That's how I would like to see the last brief from the ICC to Mike Denness after his last effort in attempting to become bigger than the game itself. He tried when he was captain of England and in Boycott's own words?I wouldn't let him look after my three cats at home." For too long now, the ICC have had an old school running made up of people who are totally out of touch with the game and are on a paid holiday, and who need to constantly justify their existence by using ICC regulations to flex their muscles. The Test match at St George's Park was one that had so many great facets to it. Let's list them. We had a magnificent batting display by Gibbs on the first day on a pitch that was very user friendly for faster bowlers. Javagal Srinath bowled his guts out for India, single-handedly carrying the attack to the South Africans and showing why he is so highly rated by all who have ever played against him. Pollock led the Protean attack and took five wickets and later scored a half century. India then managed to hold out for a draw by batting out the entire last day through the efforts of Rahul Dravid and Deep Dasgupta. Dravid has been in poor form yet fought like a tiger to ensure his country didn't lose. Dasgupta, who came into only his second Test with a highest score of 34, played the innings of a lifetime. He faced adversity every over and never flinched for one moment. The fact that the Test was drawn has ensured that the series is still alive and has given India a glimmer of hope in squaring the series come the weekend in Pretoria. Then, to top it all, we had this joke of a match referee trying to muscle in on the limelightÃÃŽaybe he wanted to get the man-of-the-match award! Talking to some of the great players from India like Sunil Gavaskar, Navjot Sidhu and Ravi Shastri, it was obvious that they were also hurt in the process. Sidhu was very outspoken and Ravi was plain angry. Ravi's remark that we all knew what Denness looked like, so why did he call for the press conference if he wanted to say nothing summed up the feelings of the Indian media contingent aptly. The press conference was a sham. Gerald Majola was completely at sea and never looked like he could control the pandemonium that broke out. Lucky there are no match referees for press conferences otherwise a lot of international scribes would have been banned for this jamboree. The South African coach, Graham Ford, was shocked at the harshness of the sentences and also saddened that the whole incident had been blown to these proportions. At the press conference, I asked if an appeal against these rulings were possible. I was sad to learn that Joker Denness' decision was final. Now that just can't be right. No one anywhere in the world, on any trial for the worst crime, is subjected to that. Whoever wrote that rule should be exposed for what he isÃÂn absolute idiot. It is high time a system of yellow and red cards is adopted in cricket. A Sehwag could have been told that his appealing was not on and his name will go or is now on the yellow card.This would have sent the correct message to both the teams. There would have been no chaos, the captain would have had a word with the team and told them to cool down. If it still persisted, then the red card would come into play and a player would miss out on the next game. This scheme was tried in a Provinces game and the results were encouraging. Having played against Sachin many times, and been fortunate enough to speak to him from time to time, I can honestly say that he is just not into things like trying to alter the state of a cricket ball. He is far above that. First, he knows that there are something like 18 cameras around the ground and that anything he does is watched for his brilliance. He couldn't even pick his nose without fear of someone seeing him, so why would he want to do something so silly? Second, the Kookaburra ball used in the game has not got a huge seam that can be lifted to any great degree, certainly not enough to benefit his kind of bowling. He is a swing bowler, not a seam bowler. Sachin, we all know cricket is more than a national passion in India, and you are an Icon. Ignore the ranting of a demented, senile Pom and continue to delight us with your wonderful batting. You will always be a gentleman and a fine cricketer. In the case of Virender Sehwag, he will go down in history as the first player to be banned from playing a Test. He has just made a debut and as the youngest member of the group to appear, he has been targeted because it is so easy. Shame on you, Mike Denness. What is excessive appealing? Is it too many times, is it for appealing too long or too loud? The rules of cricket say that if anyone thinks the batsman is out, he must appeal to the umpire. Nowhere does it say that you can only appeal sometimes. What a joke. Sehwag, hang in there. The whole cricketing world is behind you. Your place in the history of cricket is assured and will always be viewed sympathetically. This ban is going to bring about a major change in the way the game should be administered for which the credit is all yours. As for the captain, Ganguly, getting a fine for not controlling his playersÃÕhat is even more of a joke. What is the poor guy expected to do? Tell his players to stop appealing? Get a life, Denness, there's a series at stake here and India are playing for their very survival. You have punished the lieutenants and their general. Why did you leave out the Indian team manager? I am sure you thought he should have been roped in too. Why stop at Ganguly? Saurav, you may be aware that I have been critical of you in my column which is my prerogative and opinion. But on this stupid issue, I do believe you have received the short end of the stick. Don't let it worry you. Your team put up a magnificent performance on the last day. Pollock was a worried captain. Pep up your team, erase this event from their minds and come out roaring in the last Test. As a former player for South Africa and someone who is passionate about the game wherever it is played and by whomever, I can only express my condolences to the lads & all from India. The tour promised so much and I only hope that they now stay focused and go on to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. The bcci through Mr Dalmiya have been quite magnificent in the response and have taken a great stand and a timely one at that. Stick to it, Mr Dalmiya, we in SA are fully behind you. You see, the home of cricket is actually the subcontinent with India being the hosts.The sooner the older fuddy-duddies that still live in the days when English cricket ruled supreme and could compete with the world realise that it's a time long gone, the better for all. Something else that is really sad is that the Australian captain, Steve Waugh, has come out in typical Aussie style and in a veiled type of way, suggesting that Tendulkar was guilty. Maybe I should be reading it as if he was saying that if he was guilty, he should not be above the law. Well, that's stating the obvious. What is also quite absurd is that players or officials involved in the dispute are not allowed to publicly discuss the saga, yet everyone else is allowed to. The jumping to conclusions and drawing of assumptions has come about because of the lack of information provided by Denness. Anyway, it's great to see that both countries have taken up the challenge at the very highest levels of government. It shows that between India and South Africa, there is a genuine passion to help and support each other at times of crisis when it concerns those things that each other's people hold dear to themselves. Also, it highlights the fact that so much passion for cricket is felt by so many and they won't allow it to be dimmed by so few. It seems to me that this time in cricket history is ripe for another takeover by a Packer-type deal. Just maybe it will lift the game to another level of exposure and break the shackles that condemn it to play a minor role in places like the US, where entertainment is valued and its providers are remunerated accordingly. This, without having ridiculous stipulations as to what size of advertising is allowed on equipment and how many logos can be used on a shirt. The final Test is going to be a humdinger and remember that South Africa leave shortly for the tour to Australia. Certain players are playing for their places and this will ensure a certain amount of nervousness among them. I believe they are still the better team through depth in batting and bowling as well as knowledge of the local conditions. However, the Indian Tiger has been awakened and will not be easily tamed. Hold on to your seats, it's going to be the real thing, man! Pat Symcox.

[Spiderguy252]

Brilliant!

[putrevus]

wow just awesome