jimmy
01-08-2008, 07:04 AM
Umpire Steve Bucknor axed from Australia-India Test in PerthArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment Staff reporters
January 08, 2008 04:55pm
BESIEGED umpire Steve Bucknor has been dumped from the Perth Test amid a series of extraordinary measures taken to diffuse the Australia-India cricket crisis.
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden would replace Steve Bucknor for the third Test.
Former Sri Lankan captain Ranjan Madugalle, a chief referee with the International Cricket Counil, would fly to Perth to oversee the match. He would ensure it was played in the proper spirit of the game and ease tensions between the warring teams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press conference: ICC Chief Malcolm Speed
Text message: Tendulkar led India revolt
Inflammatory: Bucknor compared to Saddam Hussein
Suspension 'extreme': Ponting plea over fallout
Lehmann a spur: Cricket's black and white order exposed
Video: India tour suspended
Galleries: Second Test highlights| Indian cricket outrage
Your say: Readers' comments
Poll: Did India get a raw deal? | Should Ponting be sacked? Audio: Robert Craddock on the cricket crisis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr Speed also confirmed today that Harbhajan Singh had lodged an appeal against his three-match ban for racist abuse.
He said a code of conduct commissioner drawn from a test-playing nation would be appointed in the next 24 hours to hear the case.
It was unclear whether the appeal hearing would be complete before the Test.
He likened the simmering tension between the Australian and Indian teams to the controversial decision to abandon a Test between Pakistan and England over ball-tampering claims in England in July 2006.
The Indians have demanded Bucknor be replaced after what they called his "incompetence" over several decisions which went against them in the second Test in Sydney.
Bowden will umpire with Pakistan's Asad Rauf in Perth.
Englishman Mark Benson, who stood with Bucknor in Sydney, was not due to officiate in Perth.
India had demanded Bucknor be stood down from the Test over their anger towards his performance in the second Test in Sydney.
Umpiring was one issue India were unhappy with after that match, along with the three-Test suspension imposed on spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The backdown came just hours after the ICC told Indian officials Bucknor would officiate in the Perth Test.
At the time an ICC spokesman said: "Neither team has a right to object to an umpire's appointment."
But in justifying the measures, Mr Speed said the governing body was keen to avoid handing lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"What we hope we're doing is setting up a win for the game, so the game can move forward," he said at a hastily organised media conference today.
"Over the last week, we have seen the best and the worst of our game."
Mr Speed acknowledged some people would be unhappy given India had requested Bucknor be stood down.
"I can understand that people will take that view," he said.
"It is an extraordinary set of circumstances and we want to take some of the tension out of the situation."
Mr Speed said the ICC needed to take a "pragmatic view" towards the issue, and needed to be "flexible" to resolve the crisis.
He was confident Bucknor, 61, would umpire again at Test level.
Meanwhile, a racism hearing against Australian spinner Brad Hogg will also go ahead, after the Indians alleged he called captain Anil Kumble a "*******" in Sydney.
Hogg's hearing will be heard some time before the third Test by match referee Mike Procter.
Speed said Procter and an ICC-appointed code of conduct commissioner would re-hear the Harbhajan case, with the witnesses to be again called.
Mr Speed said that he was confident that the Test series would go ahead as planned.
Bets are off India Test.
The latest bombshell comes as bookies revealed bets would not be accepted by some agencies after the Indians' threat to pull out of the series after a controversial second Test in Sydney.
Melbourne bookie Simon Beasley told the Herald Sun he needed to know more before he could continue taking money.
"We've got it on hold at the moment until we know what's happening," Mr Beasley said.
Phil Hanna of Sportsbet said he was waiting for confirmation before he would again start fielding on the series.
"Which is a pain in the bum. It sounds like they're pretty serious (about taking action)," he said.
Mr Hanna said large amounts of money were tied up in series betting and correct series score wagers.
He said it was uncertain what would happen to people who had already made bets on the series result if India pulled out, particularly if they had supported a 2-0 margin in favour of Australia.
Gary Davies of TAB Sportsbet said he was betting on the Third Test in Perth but was not taking money on series runs and series wickets bets.
It is unclear what affect the controversy will have in the Indian sub-continent, which is the home of cricket's biggest betting markets.
Ban fallout
Australian cricket was facing a $50-million catastrophe as India threatened to abandon the tour because champion spin bowler Harbhajan SIngh was been found guilty of racial abuse.
Relations between the world's most powerful cricket nations plunged to their lowest ebb when Harbhajan was banned for calling Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds a "big monkey".
He denied the charge and India threatened to go home unless Harbhajan's three-match suspension was over-turned.
The Indians declared they would not leave their Sydney hotel until Harbhajan's appeal was heard.
India faces a $2 million fine from the International Cricket Council if it boycotts the tour.
The wealthy Indian cricket board (BCCI) could also be liable to reimburse Cricket Australia for millions of dollars in losses.
The damages bill would include the cash cow of TV rights - both domestically from Channel Nine and from the Indian pay TV networks - as well as sponsorship agreements and gate receipts.
Melbourne fans would miss out on several one-day games plus a Twenty-20 clash at the MCG.
India was seething last night after a stormy Sydney Test rocked the game to its foundations with claims of abuse, bad sportsmanship and a string of poor umpiring decisions.
Harbhajan's punishment was the final straw for the embattled tourists who collapsed in the final minutes on Sunday to go two down in the four-Test series.
The Indian camp was last night awaiting a response from the ICC and hopes for a hearing later this week.
In Mumbai, BCCI president Sharad Pawar - a senior government minister in Delhi - said the honour of the Indian team "and for that matter every Indian" was at stake.
But Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said the threat of abandoning the tour was a "bit extreme" and urged calm.
"I think it's important for all of us to look past that and realise that both India and Australia have got, and have had, tremendous relations through 100 years of Test cricket," he said.
"You'd like to think that one little incident like this wouldn't bring undone all the great work that's been done over a long period of time."
The tourists argued Harbhajan's hearing was a case of the word of the Indian players against that of the Australians.
In such a situation, they believe the spinner should not have been found guilty.
Pawar said India would fight the "blatantly false and unfair slur" on Harbhajan.
"The board also questions the very conduct of the hearing as the match referee before reaching his decision disregarded the essential point of any inquiry, that it should be based on facts, rational, detached and objective," he said.
The 2.15am decision against Harbhajan left the tourists with little sleep before they were due to board a bus for Canberra where they were to play a two-day warm-up match against the ACT from Thursday.
The Indians were ordered back to their hotel rooms when the BCCI intervened.
The fallout continued last night with Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor desperately trying to initiate peace talks with Pawar.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was hopeful the tour will proceed.
"I am confident the two nations can get together and discuss any residue differences," he said.
Cricket Australia last year signed a lucrative TV rights deal with Channel 9, believed to be worth about $300 million, but even that is small fry compared with some of the money bandied about by cashed-up Indian networks.
CA would almost certainly be in breach of its contract with TV broadcasters if no matches were played and TV bosses would look to recoup the financial shortfall from them.
Cricket's commercial partners, such as the Commonwealth Bank, the Three telecommunications company, adidas and Foster's, would also be out of pocket and seek to lodge a claim with CA.
"If the Test and one-day series against India is off it will be catastrophic -- there could be a $50 million loss," one source said.
"Everyone will be asking for their money back."
It remains to be seen how the lucrative contracts many Australian players hold with big Indian businesses will be affected by the racial dramas that have enveloped the tour.
Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist earn millions from sponsorship endorsements in India, where cricket is more of a religion than a sport.
The tourists are livid that Ponting ordered umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson to report Harbhajan after play on Friday.
Ponting says he was acting on ICC instructions to report anything that might be racist.
The Indians are also angry that match referee Mike Procter found Harbhajan guilty despite there being no audio or visual evidence or third-party collaboration, but just the word of Symonds and teammates Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden.
Harbhajan was supported in the hearing by legendary teammate Sachin Tendulkar, who was batting with him when the incident occurred.
Indian officials last night confirmed they had lodged an official complaint against Australia's Brad Hogg for abusive language towards Indian captain Anil Kumble on the final day of the Sydney Test.
January 08, 2008 04:55pm
BESIEGED umpire Steve Bucknor has been dumped from the Perth Test amid a series of extraordinary measures taken to diffuse the Australia-India cricket crisis.
International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden would replace Steve Bucknor for the third Test.
Former Sri Lankan captain Ranjan Madugalle, a chief referee with the International Cricket Counil, would fly to Perth to oversee the match. He would ensure it was played in the proper spirit of the game and ease tensions between the warring teams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press conference: ICC Chief Malcolm Speed
Text message: Tendulkar led India revolt
Inflammatory: Bucknor compared to Saddam Hussein
Suspension 'extreme': Ponting plea over fallout
Lehmann a spur: Cricket's black and white order exposed
Video: India tour suspended
Galleries: Second Test highlights| Indian cricket outrage
Your say: Readers' comments
Poll: Did India get a raw deal? | Should Ponting be sacked? Audio: Robert Craddock on the cricket crisis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr Speed also confirmed today that Harbhajan Singh had lodged an appeal against his three-match ban for racist abuse.
He said a code of conduct commissioner drawn from a test-playing nation would be appointed in the next 24 hours to hear the case.
It was unclear whether the appeal hearing would be complete before the Test.
He likened the simmering tension between the Australian and Indian teams to the controversial decision to abandon a Test between Pakistan and England over ball-tampering claims in England in July 2006.
The Indians have demanded Bucknor be replaced after what they called his "incompetence" over several decisions which went against them in the second Test in Sydney.
Bowden will umpire with Pakistan's Asad Rauf in Perth.
Englishman Mark Benson, who stood with Bucknor in Sydney, was not due to officiate in Perth.
India had demanded Bucknor be stood down from the Test over their anger towards his performance in the second Test in Sydney.
Umpiring was one issue India were unhappy with after that match, along with the three-Test suspension imposed on spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The backdown came just hours after the ICC told Indian officials Bucknor would officiate in the Perth Test.
At the time an ICC spokesman said: "Neither team has a right to object to an umpire's appointment."
But in justifying the measures, Mr Speed said the governing body was keen to avoid handing lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"What we hope we're doing is setting up a win for the game, so the game can move forward," he said at a hastily organised media conference today.
"Over the last week, we have seen the best and the worst of our game."
Mr Speed acknowledged some people would be unhappy given India had requested Bucknor be stood down.
"I can understand that people will take that view," he said.
"It is an extraordinary set of circumstances and we want to take some of the tension out of the situation."
Mr Speed said the ICC needed to take a "pragmatic view" towards the issue, and needed to be "flexible" to resolve the crisis.
He was confident Bucknor, 61, would umpire again at Test level.
Meanwhile, a racism hearing against Australian spinner Brad Hogg will also go ahead, after the Indians alleged he called captain Anil Kumble a "*******" in Sydney.
Hogg's hearing will be heard some time before the third Test by match referee Mike Procter.
Speed said Procter and an ICC-appointed code of conduct commissioner would re-hear the Harbhajan case, with the witnesses to be again called.
Mr Speed said that he was confident that the Test series would go ahead as planned.
Bets are off India Test.
The latest bombshell comes as bookies revealed bets would not be accepted by some agencies after the Indians' threat to pull out of the series after a controversial second Test in Sydney.
Melbourne bookie Simon Beasley told the Herald Sun he needed to know more before he could continue taking money.
"We've got it on hold at the moment until we know what's happening," Mr Beasley said.
Phil Hanna of Sportsbet said he was waiting for confirmation before he would again start fielding on the series.
"Which is a pain in the bum. It sounds like they're pretty serious (about taking action)," he said.
Mr Hanna said large amounts of money were tied up in series betting and correct series score wagers.
He said it was uncertain what would happen to people who had already made bets on the series result if India pulled out, particularly if they had supported a 2-0 margin in favour of Australia.
Gary Davies of TAB Sportsbet said he was betting on the Third Test in Perth but was not taking money on series runs and series wickets bets.
It is unclear what affect the controversy will have in the Indian sub-continent, which is the home of cricket's biggest betting markets.
Ban fallout
Australian cricket was facing a $50-million catastrophe as India threatened to abandon the tour because champion spin bowler Harbhajan SIngh was been found guilty of racial abuse.
Relations between the world's most powerful cricket nations plunged to their lowest ebb when Harbhajan was banned for calling Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds a "big monkey".
He denied the charge and India threatened to go home unless Harbhajan's three-match suspension was over-turned.
The Indians declared they would not leave their Sydney hotel until Harbhajan's appeal was heard.
India faces a $2 million fine from the International Cricket Council if it boycotts the tour.
The wealthy Indian cricket board (BCCI) could also be liable to reimburse Cricket Australia for millions of dollars in losses.
The damages bill would include the cash cow of TV rights - both domestically from Channel Nine and from the Indian pay TV networks - as well as sponsorship agreements and gate receipts.
Melbourne fans would miss out on several one-day games plus a Twenty-20 clash at the MCG.
India was seething last night after a stormy Sydney Test rocked the game to its foundations with claims of abuse, bad sportsmanship and a string of poor umpiring decisions.
Harbhajan's punishment was the final straw for the embattled tourists who collapsed in the final minutes on Sunday to go two down in the four-Test series.
The Indian camp was last night awaiting a response from the ICC and hopes for a hearing later this week.
In Mumbai, BCCI president Sharad Pawar - a senior government minister in Delhi - said the honour of the Indian team "and for that matter every Indian" was at stake.
But Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said the threat of abandoning the tour was a "bit extreme" and urged calm.
"I think it's important for all of us to look past that and realise that both India and Australia have got, and have had, tremendous relations through 100 years of Test cricket," he said.
"You'd like to think that one little incident like this wouldn't bring undone all the great work that's been done over a long period of time."
The tourists argued Harbhajan's hearing was a case of the word of the Indian players against that of the Australians.
In such a situation, they believe the spinner should not have been found guilty.
Pawar said India would fight the "blatantly false and unfair slur" on Harbhajan.
"The board also questions the very conduct of the hearing as the match referee before reaching his decision disregarded the essential point of any inquiry, that it should be based on facts, rational, detached and objective," he said.
The 2.15am decision against Harbhajan left the tourists with little sleep before they were due to board a bus for Canberra where they were to play a two-day warm-up match against the ACT from Thursday.
The Indians were ordered back to their hotel rooms when the BCCI intervened.
The fallout continued last night with Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor desperately trying to initiate peace talks with Pawar.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was hopeful the tour will proceed.
"I am confident the two nations can get together and discuss any residue differences," he said.
Cricket Australia last year signed a lucrative TV rights deal with Channel 9, believed to be worth about $300 million, but even that is small fry compared with some of the money bandied about by cashed-up Indian networks.
CA would almost certainly be in breach of its contract with TV broadcasters if no matches were played and TV bosses would look to recoup the financial shortfall from them.
Cricket's commercial partners, such as the Commonwealth Bank, the Three telecommunications company, adidas and Foster's, would also be out of pocket and seek to lodge a claim with CA.
"If the Test and one-day series against India is off it will be catastrophic -- there could be a $50 million loss," one source said.
"Everyone will be asking for their money back."
It remains to be seen how the lucrative contracts many Australian players hold with big Indian businesses will be affected by the racial dramas that have enveloped the tour.
Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist earn millions from sponsorship endorsements in India, where cricket is more of a religion than a sport.
The tourists are livid that Ponting ordered umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson to report Harbhajan after play on Friday.
Ponting says he was acting on ICC instructions to report anything that might be racist.
The Indians are also angry that match referee Mike Procter found Harbhajan guilty despite there being no audio or visual evidence or third-party collaboration, but just the word of Symonds and teammates Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden.
Harbhajan was supported in the hearing by legendary teammate Sachin Tendulkar, who was batting with him when the incident occurred.
Indian officials last night confirmed they had lodged an official complaint against Australia's Brad Hogg for abusive language towards Indian captain Anil Kumble on the final day of the Sydney Test.