This week was quite bad for the cricketing world. First the bomb blasts in Sri Lanka with the subsequent refusal of the South Africans to play, and today the ball tampering controversy in England and Pakistan's refusal to play. And although both happened far away in completely different contexts, one can't help but think that when someone will write the history of the sport in a few years time, both incidents will be grouped under the chapter 'Racism'.
i'm not one of those who are quick to interpret any controversy as White v/s Coloured. But cricket's track record is too strong to be denied as proof. And invariably, inspite of having a Pakistani chief, the ICC seems to have a different set of rules for the White Gentleman.
Australia played the Ashes quite happily after the London train bombings. And if the Australian or the English team had actually tampered the ball, no umpire in the world would have so openly and brazenly penalised them without any explanation or proof. The South Africans complain about the 'dangerous' situation in SL, and the very same night party in a disco close to where the bombings happened. Everyone knows both Brett Lee and Muralitharan chuck the ball, but only one of them has his credibility questioned. Pakistan has a past history of ball tampering which is always taken as 'proof' against them, but when known sledger Glenn McGrath gets into an argument with a 'coloured' Ramnaresh Sarwan, it's the latter who gets banned for a few matches. Spinning tracks in India are an 'unfair advantage' while bouncy, pacy wickets in Australia are 'challenging playing conditions'. And there's much more which i cannot remember...
i do not particularly like the Pakistani cricket team, but i so respect what they did today. In this time and age, cricket's soul lies in the sub-continent; but in ther minds of the controlling body, it's still a White Man's Game.
2 comments:
i agree with all youre saying.its just that.
pakistan do this allthe time.
15 yrs later, imran khan says....i did tamper with the ball,in his memoirs .while he was playing, he would have screamed blue murder.
pakis invented reverse swing.
however racial he was,hair has to have known the ball conditon was changing.
it cant happen magically.
and the look of the ball cant change so drastically by just spit shining.
theyve been known to use bottle caps, nails.anything.
i dislike hair too.
he's had it in for the pakis for a long time.
i just feel,
pakis should have finished out the match,and then gone throught he proper channels.
if i were a spectator in that stadium.
id be pissed.
ok i feel better.
thanks.
i agree the pakis have a history. but tats why ive also mentiond that white-r countries with histories do not seem to get penalised for it.
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