If law breakers are to be believed then "Rules are mere guidelines and boundary lines, you can stretch them a bit and even occasionally put a foot on the other side". I guess this is exactly how Mr. Ponting views the 90 overs a day rule in test cricket. Otherwise, he would try to cut down on the camaraderie building chats he decided to have with his bowlers throughout the day.
Consider this: 15 overs a session, 6 hours of play with an added half hour to make up for dawdling Punter(s)! Still our Punter manages to clock 86 overs in 6 and a half hours. I get the feeling he particularly likes to learn the nuances of chinamen bowling in the middle of a test match from Bradley Hogg. I guess he even wants to pick up McGrathesque techniques from Mr Clark. It really beggars belief that the best team in the world cannot bowl the quota of 90 overs with a regular and part-time spinner in their ranks. Either this or one must believe that Ponting thinks he is above the law which can at the most rob him of his match fees. I guess he has made too much money to be bothered by such inanities of life.
If truth be told, captains all over the world have regarded the 90 over rule as more of a guideline and they have started taking the extra half hour as the official close of play. Ponting rules the roost in this regard. I wonder if the match referee will see this disgression kindly. If "alleged" racial slurs are enough to threaten a player with hearings and bans, such an open mockery of the rules of cricket in consecutive tests must not go unpunished. The worst advertisement for test cricket is a captain who doesn't take its rules seriously. In this series itself, Ponting has gone from appealing for a grounded catch to violating the required quota of overs to be bowled.
In Perth, Ponting could be excused for having a four pronged pace attack coupled with more than warm playing conditions. However in Adelaide, under pressure of a fine in the previous test and with 2 spinning options used to bowl overs on a pleasant day, he decided to flout the rules by enjoying jaunts to the bowler's end. Ian Chappel made a remark that the slow over should not be blamed on the bowlers but on Ponting's frequent trips to them.
The match referee and the ICC need to look at this as a serious violation especially given the precedent. Ponting is undoubtedly one of the best run getters of all time but he must not allow such transgressions to tarnish his image. He must remember that he is not merely a great batsman; he is not only a ambassador for australian cricket but a sport icon in many parts of the world.
3 comments:
How do you think the Bhajji hearing will pan out? I was amused to read that stump mic transcripts will be introduced as evidence. If such recording existed, should it not have been used as evidence on Day One itself?
And what of Sehwag's swashbuckling willow? Do you think Kumble erred by not playing him at the MCG and at Sydney?
Finally, what's your take on the T20 next week and the subsequent ODI tournament? Think the Indian batting line up can deliver? With Yuvraj in fine fettle and Dhoni setting the stadium ablaze with his batting pyrotechnics, that should be an easy one to answer... what say?
Well, in hindsight, I should say, Sehwag's exclusion in the first two tests made India pay dearly. But then, hindsight is always just that!
Nevertheless, I must admit that I felt the Indians would play Sehwag in Melbourne just going by his previous innings here. At least, I was never one for Dravid and Jaffer to open unless as a last resort. The reason is simple. Last time India had success because Sehwag opened with Akash Chopra. You punt with the swashbuckler at one end and insure with the grafter at the other. That way you still give yourself the option of intimidating the opposition in the first session.
I must also admit that I never saw Irfan coming back into the test team strongly with his bowling. I thought he has remodeled his action too much to be an effective wicket taker but then, he proved a lot of people wrong.
As for the T20 and ODI, well thats for a different post!!!
for sure the australian board will pass over the bhajji issue... and both will arrive at some sort of a compromise... cricket is big business, its entertainment and this racism row is part of the entertainment package :P
so i guess in some form both parties will kiss and make up before the ODI series
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