BENSON & BUCKNOR ARE INJURIOUS TO CRICKET
on January 7th, 2008 at 3:15 am
A match that will be remembered more for umpiring blunders than for the performance of the players. At least seven decisions went against India which sealed the fate of the match, Australia were clearly playing with 13 players.
Although Ricky pontings Australia were able to match the record of Steve Waugh’s run of 16 consecutive wins but during this match at SCG the spirit of cricket was lost. With only six minutes to spare MJ Clarke picked 3 wickets of 5 balls and finished the game but before his brilliant spell it was some pathetic and shady umpiring which helped Australia to come near a victory they all so desperately wanted. In all fairness even if half of these decisions had gone India’s way Australia would have lost this match. The first decision which went in favor of Symonds when he was at 30 only a blind and deaf man could have judged it wrong, he went on to score 162, I am surprised even the third Umpire gave him not out with all the technology and time at his disposal this cannot be an error of judgement and if it is then my question to ICC is why they are putting people with such impaired judgement on the field to officiate such a high profile series.
In the first innings a total of 4 decisions went Australia’s way, In India’s second innings when everybody thought that the match was heading for a draw first Wasim Jaffer was given out on a No ball then Rahul dravid who was batting quite comfortably was given caught behind when the bat was no way near the ball and was completely hidden behind the pads, then came the decision which disgusted me the most Saurav Ganguly edged one to third slip which was taken by Rick Ponting on the bounce the Australians made a vociferous appeal but umpire Benson was not sure it was only after Ricky Ponting signalled him by raising his finger and suggested him to give the decision against the batsman only then Mark Benson lifted his finger he didnt even bothered to consult Steve Bucknor which is a normal practice in such circumstances and chose to obey the command of the fourth umpire Ricky Ponting.
After this match Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor have joined the ranks of Darrell Hair for controversial and biased umpiring. Australians have no reson to celebrate this victory in fact they should bow their heads in shame as they have killed the spirit of the game.
It has always been the Australian way to brow-beat the opponents and the umpires to get the advantage and win by any means. Remember Dennis Lillee kicking Javed Miandad in the back? I have a video of a latest digital version of BBC’s ” Bodyline ” series wherein Douglas Jardine ( The England Captain) went to the Australian dressing room and complained to Bill Woodfull, the Australian captain that some one called him a bastard. Woodfull turned around and shouted ” Which one of you bastard calledd this bastard a bastard? ”
It is their culture, just the other day, Allan Border said something to the effect that if an opponent scores a century, or a bowler takes a vital wicket,
we compliment him by saying what a lucky bastard he is!
Anil Kumble is crying now when the shoe is on the other foot!! What about when he provoked Mohammed Yousuf at Bangalore when he was batting serenly and Kumble sensed the game slipping away from his hand? Where was the so-called “gentleman sporstman”? Now when the same medicine is administered to him it hurts!!
I have no further comments.
Steve Waugh can say anything he wants, the two Pakistani umpires especially Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf are very good. In fact Aleem Dar is even better than Simon Taufel but, once again he is brown and the Australians always try to intimidate him or any other non-white umpire.
Steve Bucknor is not intimidated by anyone, its a shame that he is getting old but he is definitely a very good umpire. In my opinion Rudy, Billy Bowden, Marc Benson are all very biased and they have soft corners for the white players.
My point is Indians should not complain about this umpiring decisions now because, they have lost two test matches and they should leave it for others to pin point the umpiring errors and the cause of defeat. The loosing side if they complain, seems like nagging, whining and crying.
The bigger issue for India is to deal with Harbhajan’s ban who has been labeled as a “racist” therefore, ALL Indians must stand united and get this ban lifted and if needed they should abandon this tour. That is the only way to protest.
The difference between Inzamam and Kumble is Inzi’s bat and his will was stronger and he cared for his team and the country’s pride and honour. Whereas, Kumble’s balls are not made of steel and he is a scum.
Its not about neutral umpires, its about systematically trying to uphold white supermacy in cricket. Remember Pakistan’s last tour to england the umpires did the everything in their power to make england victorious. Its a white mans world and I am glad that the Indians had to taste this bias because BCCI only takes a stand against these white superamist boards and ICC when it hits them
Steve Waugh has an interesting suggestion that the best umpires should stand for high-profile series, regardless of whether they are neutral or not. I think he has a point there. Look at the number of decisions that were wrong in this match, both for India and Aus. Umpires like Taufel, Bowden and Dar would not have made such shocking errors so regularly.
Neutral umpires are only needed in the sub-continent. But in Australia, you need umpires who are not intimidated by the world-champs and are confident about their decisions.
Anil Kumble played a very gutsy knock today. I think this one was better than his 110 n.o.