Cricket...

So the ICC has dumped Bucknor (but not at the BCCI's request) (ORLY?) but oddly not Benson, who seemed just as incompetent than Bucknor, if not more so. Why one and not the other? India's long-held and widely known belief that Bucknor is biased against them no doubt had no bearing on the decision. None at all. And of course the ICC is compromised since India is largely responsible for ensuring the health of the ICC cash cow through TV rights.

And happily, Roebuck's call for Ponting's head has been treated with the contempt that it deserves - sometimes even selling lots of newspapers can still leave you as a laughing stock. Bad luck, Pete.

They totally make up the rules as they go, right?

-- HI DERE, Thursday, August 30, 2007 11:31 PM (4 months ago)

????

Kudos to the journalist who termed this the "Bollyline" tour.

In another remarkable day for world cricket, the financially powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India succeeded in having controversial umpire Steve Bucknor stood down for the Perth Test. New Zealand's Billy Bowden will stand in his place.

What, and giving this twat another chance to be a wanker is better in some way?

Some people are ruining cricket for me. Bowden and his self-obsessed arsehattery can get fucked.

(Mark Taylor's incredibly soporific commentary is another)

Billy Bowden pisses me off like you wouldn't believe.

Is Mark Benson usually crap? He was a decent opener for Kent and unlucky for England. He had an unusual batting style.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7178634.stm

What do the actual aussie public think?

UH

I assume contrary to the reports in todays UK newspapers the public are totally behind ponting?

The public manages to ignore any news story in which Australia is criticised. If the situation were reversed we'd be beying for Indian blood.

Loads of countries are like this, but Australia is a bit over the top imo.

Common scenario: A male Australian 'football'* player fondles some woman in a club, reels off a template apology to the press, cops a fine and/or a several-match ban, continues to enjoy blanket media coverage, becomes role model for young boys.

* not football

way to generalise!!

interesting alternate perspective from india

^^^ author has 30 minutes to live

that guy is one of the best cricket-writers going, along with cricinfo colleague and amusingly-named-for-an-aussie peter english

you'd have to say 'peter australian' would be a lot funnier, surely

this is true

peter new zealander would be funniest of all

poida

Of course what is not being discussed anywhere is the woeful quality of the team that India has sent to represent their country.

Aside from Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly, Kumble and Dhoni the rest should all be dropped. Jaffer's made 22 runs in 4 innings and got out to Lee each time. Dravid's faced 443 balls for a pitiful 112 runs in 4 innings. And Yuvraj, the wonderkid, has 17 runs from 4 innings. Ana aside from Kumble, the bowling hasn't looked much better.

Perhaps they SHOULD go home.

lol you

india took a first-innings lead in the last game, were denied a potentially decisive one by a staggeringly poor bit of umpiring, and only failed to draw due to a) more bad umpiring and b) one freak over.

for your sake i hope india wins the next two tests

Bowden and his self-obsessed arsehattery can get fucked.

He's annoying, but also makes the correct decisions most of the time.

No, they "failed to draw" because they couldn't bat through two sessions.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4350433a6429.html

Has this been posted yet?

*speechless*

Incidentally, Symonds is not Aborigine as many think, but has West Indian heritage, so technically, he and Harbhajan are both Indians.

OK, this is a spoof

When's the bottle opener coming?

it's not a very well-advised spoof, if it even is one.

DNW: Bowden.

Also, that article is really fucking terrible.

I might be wrong, but I seem to recall Ian "cunt" Healy calling Symonds a gollywog a few years back?

He's annoying, but also makes the correct decisions most of the time.

-- Neil S, Thursday, 10 January 2008 22:40 (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

He can be correct without being knobtastic.

xp Symonds sometimes actually looks like a golliwog doll though, and not in a remotely racist way. Hair, complexion and white zinc cream on his lips.

i'm just waiting for bowden to rip his coat off after he makes a fantastic caught-behind decision and thus reveal a shirt reading "I Belong To Jesus"

olz

And Yuvraj, the wonderkid, has 17 runs from 4 innings.

i thought that their bowling has been ok, considering how young the two quicks are.

stick a fork in him!

YUVRAJ Singh's miserable tour of Australia is almost certainly over after he was dismissed by a courier driver for two runs during a practice match in Canberra yesterday.

Symonds sometimes actually looks like a golliwog doll though, and not in a remotely racist way. Hair, complexion and white zinc cream on his lips.

Whatever man, it's still a very "unprofessional" thing for a Channel 9 "commentator" to say.

exactly.

I agree totally. Sorry, I should have been clear on that.

(xp)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/mihirbose/2008/01/what_was_and_wasnt_said_in_syd.html

http://media.theaustralian.com.au/multimedia/2008/01/09-tshirts/index.html

http://www.headlinesindia.com/more/index.jsp?news_code=67850

and now Pakistan want the Oval result overturned
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/330349.html

"We have made the application to the ICC and they will consider it at the next cricket committee meeting," the official told Cricinfo.

Pakistan's case, he added, was strengthened by the fact that England supported the application when the matter was discussed at the executive board meeting of the ICC.

"We have moved the application on the basis of the ICC dropping the ball tampering charges against our team," the official added.

Inzamam told BBC's Urdu service that Pakistan should take a lead from the Indian board and push to change the result of the Oval Test. Inzamam was referring to the ICC's decision to drop Steve Bucknor from the Perth Test between India and Australia after the BCCI complained over Bucknor's umpiring in Sydney. Inzamam said the Pakistan board should pressurise the ICC because the ball tampering charges were eventually dropped. England won the series 3-0.

Why don't they do away with the game altogether and just argue for three weeks.

dammit i predicted that series at 3-0 and was incredibly smug about it afterwards

India withdraw tour quit threat
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7185056.stm

Shame.

"I mean, I'm not sensitive about it . . . but if I'm not your friend, if you're an opposition player or something like that, it is unacceptable."

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23043586-5003413,00.html

WOW AUSTRALIA'S 2 SHITTY OPENERS OUT -- 2/13

3 DOWN ._.