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Test nations back ICC
Wisden CricInfo staff - November 24, 2001

Pakistan

Sri Lanka

England

Australia

It's becoming a joke, say PCB
Friday, November 23, 2001

Pakistan's cricket chief warned that the sport would become a "joke" if the Mike Denness debacle was not swiftly resolved.

"Cricket is becoming a joke unless something is done quickly to set things right," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Lieutenant-General Tauqir Zia told Reuters.

The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) defied the ICC on Thursday and replaced Denness, referee for Friday's third match with India, after he handed Sachin Tendulkar a fine and a suspended one-match ban for ball-tampering in the drawn second Test.

The ICC responded by stripping the third game between the two teams of official Test status.

Zia said: "We are distressed by the present crisis in world cricket but Pakistan still regards ICC as the supreme governing body of the game.

"But we feel it should also remain a neutral body, and all its rules and regulations and the code of conduct should be enforced with uniformity and consistency for all member countries and players."

Zia does not expect the crisis to cause a split in the ICC and the formation of a breakaway Asian cricket bloc. "I don't think this is going to happen. The present crisis is bad for the image of the game," he said. "But it is time the ICC also looked into the reasons for such a situation developing in the first place.

"The ICC and its officials do not have uniformity in implementing rules and regulations. I don't want to complain. But it is a fact that these have not been enforced with uniformity for all players.

"There have been several incidents where match referees or umpires have interpreted or enforced rules and sanctions differently for different players and teams. This needs to be corrected," Zia said.

He added that while Denness was within his rights to penalise Tendulkar after watching replays on television, this was something which should have been left up to the umpires. "They are the ones who watch everything on field. Which is why Pakistan is asking for more powers to be given to the umpires on and off the field."

India also won guarded support from PCB director Brigadier Munawwar Rana. "We believe that the Indians have not challenged the position of the match referee in the ICC, but some of his judgments in a particular match," he said. "We consider this a matter between India and the ICC and the UCBSA. Our feeling is the Indians are entitled to their point of view."

Sri Lanka stand by ICC
Friday, November 23, 2001 Sri Lanka have backed the International Cricket Council's (ICC's) stance in the stand-off with South Africa and India following the Mike Denness controversy, but still want to hear India's viewpoint.

"We certainly see the ICC's point," Vijaya Malalasekara, chairman of the interim committee which runs the Sri Lanka cricket board, told Reuters. "You don't agree to independent judges and suddenly sack them because you don't like how they rule," he said.

Malalasekara said he had been in touch with ICC president Malcolm Gray but wanted to hear India's side of the story as well.

"But I would like to know India's position before we make a final call and we hope it can be solved amicably," he said.

Facing an Indian boycott, South Africa's United Cricket Board barred ICC-appointed match referee Denness from standing in the third and final Test after he imposed penalties on six Indian players, including a controversial one-match ban on top Indian batsmen Sachin Tendulkar for ball tampering.

The ICC has responded by stripping the Centurion match of Test status.

Sri Lanka is part of the Asian Cricket Council which is chaired by India's cricket chief Jagmohan Dalmiya. Indian officials and politicians have accused Denness of racism, a charge that could strike a chord with the subcontinent's traditional suspicion of London-based cricket administration.

MacLaurin backs ICC
Friday, November 23, 2001

England will back the International Cricket Council (ICC) in any power struggle with India and South Africa following the Mike Denness controversy, according to Lord MacLaurin.

MacLaurin, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said: "The ECB view is absolutely clear: we stand full square behind the ICC.

"I have spoken to (ICC president) Malcolm Gray this morning and pledged our full support, as I guess most of the Test-playing nations will do."

South Africa, reacting to Indian demands, sacked ICC match referee Denness on Thursday, prompting cricket's world governing body to hit back by stripping the third match between the sides of its Test status.

India had earlier threatened to boycott the Centurion game which started on Friday after criticising Denness - a former England Test captain - for punishing six of their players, including Sachin Tendulkar, in the second Test.

MacLaurin added: "They (the ICC) control world cricket - we have anarchy at the moment."

England are currently touring India before the start of a three-Test series in December but MacLaurin added: "I don't think we want to talk about pulling out of tours because that would be very sad indeed. We will just see how things develop over the next few days."

Aussie PM backs ICC
Friday, November 23, 2001

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has criticised the Indian and South African cricket boards after the sacking of match referee Mike Denness, who dared to find India's star batsman Sachin Tendulkar guilty of ball-tampering.

Howard said it was a "terrible development" that two teams would take matters into their own hands and challenge the International Cricket Council's (ICC) right to appoint neutral referees.

"The authority of the ICC should not be challenged in this way," Howard told a Sydney radio station. "It is imperative that administrators of all games have the tenacity, the courage and the authority to stamp out behaviour that brings any game into disrepute."

Howard said he also supported the ICC's unprecedented decision to downgrade Friday's third Test between South Africa and India to a first-class fixture, after South Africa's United Cricket Board bowed to appeals from India and barred former England captain Mike Denness from officiating as match referee.

"It's very, very bad that this kind of thing should occur but in the end you have to accept the umpire's decision, so to speak," Howard said. "I think it is very regrettable that the United Cricket Board of South Africa has joined the Indian Cricket Board of Control in taking this approach and it is very, very disappointing."

Relations between the Indian and Australian cricket teams have been strained in recent years, and there were reports of friction between the players during this year's Test series in India.

Australian captain Steve Waugh said he welcomed Denness's decision to impose a suspended one-match ban on Tendulkar, because no player was above the game.

"If he's picked the seam, then he's got to pay the penalty like everyone else," said Waugh. "There shouldn't be any favours just because of your reputation."

But Waugh's comments drew a sharp response from his Indian counterpart Sourav Ganguly, who said that Waugh should "shut up".

Chris Ryan
Cricket and Australian politics

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