Wednesday, November 28, 2001 Mike Denness has been called many things in the past week. At the less vitriolic end of the spectrum was the pun-friendly "menace", an early favourite with India's sub-editors. At the other end was the unfriendly "evil", used by the former Indian opener Navjot Sidhu, who for once was not mangling his metaphors during a TV commentary stint at Centurion (so at least something good has come out of this mess).

But perhaps the most hurtful accusation was that Denness is a racist. This, despite the fact that in ten previous stints at refereeing Indian matches, he hadn't fined a single one of them. This, though, isn't the point: ice-cold logic doesn't work when the flames of injustice and resentment are being fanned by cynical administrators. The brave new cricket world of the subcontinent has always felt that the old, white, Anglo-Australian guard wants to keep it in its place, and there's a jolly good chap. So when a perceived member of the establishment starts punishing India's cricketers (and even accuses Sachin - Sachin! - of misbehaving) old emotions are stirred. It's not quite the Empire Strikes Back. But when an Englishman slaps an Indian across the wrists, thoughts turn inevitably to colonialism. When he does it to six of them - and ignores the ugly sledging of the mainly white South Africans - slapped wrists give way to violently jerking knees.

We don't have to agree with cries of racism, but we should at least try to understand them. Cricket means more to the average Indian supporter than it does to even the most diehard MCC member. It's easy for middle-class English liberals to say it's only a game, but when your country depends heavily on it for international recognition, people get touchy. You had only to witness the joyous Indian crowds during England's disastrous 1992-93 tour to realise how much beating the old occupiers means.

But how sensitive is English cricket to this strength of feeling in Asia? Nasser Hussain was born in Madras, so he should be, but before the series against Pakistan in May he naively called for British Asians to get behind his team. They promptly showed where their allegiances lay by waving the Pakistani flag, screaming "Zindabad" and swarming onto the Old Trafford pitch when England collapsed on the final evening.

Then there's the Alec Stewart affair. Implicated in the cash-for-information controversy, Stewart was reprieved after a brief phone call to Lord MacLaurin (whose title hardly helps dispel images of gin-soaked Raj apologists). The case of Shane Warne and Mark Waugh was hushed up for years. In India and Pakistan, legal inquiries - not great ones, but inquiries nonetheless - were launched and two former Test captains were banned for life. Which side swept things under the carpet? Typical, mutter the new order: the oldies think they're whiter than white.

Apparent English arrogance at the expense of the new boys is an almost timeless theme. In 1951-52 England patronised India by sending an understrength team captained by the unknown Nigel Howard: he averaged 17 with the bat and never played for England again. In 1972-73, for the tours of India and Pakistan, they repeated the trick by giving the captaincy to Tony Lewis, who played just three more Tests after that. In the early 1980s, England were reluctant to allow Sri Lanka into the Test fold, and it was only this year that they played a full series against them. In 1987-88 Mike Gatting wagged his finger at Shakoor Rana. In 1992 and 1992-93 successive series defeats by Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka were blamed on ball-tampering, smog/prawns, and excessive heat. In 1998, some of the gloss was taken off Murali's match at The Oval by insinuations from England's coach David Lloyd that Murali had chucked Sri Lanka to victory. And in 2000-01, Andy Caddick told Pakistani umpire Sajjad Ashgar that his country was a tip.

The question is not whether England have been condescending, whinging or just downright rude, though they have probably been all three. It is how they are perceived by a nation that for historical reasons is sensitive to the way the English treat them, and the answer is not always very well. So by waving away with an imperial flick of the hand those who rant that Denness is a racist, we merely reinforce an old stereotype. It doesn't excuse the mud-slinging, but it might just explain it.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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