[Gandhi]

Anhoni ko honi karde... Woh hai captain Dhoni

[msdivy]

Sums up Dhoni's approach

[Satshan]

India won yesterday, but struggled to get there. Didnt expect India to poorly win for a target of 202. All Thanks to MSD, only he can make such a win possible.

[NinadJoshi]

Stuart Fraud.

Wonder what Papa Fraud has to say to this, especially considering he handed out a rather harsh 2 match ban to Denesh Ramdin for supposed unsportsmanlike behavior in the recently concluded triangular series between WI-Ind-SL. Papa Broad, a member of the ruling body's elite panel of match referees, adjudicated on the Ramdin matter. "This is regarded as a serious offence as it is the responsibility of all players to act in the spirit of the game," he said. "I hope Mr Ramdin has learned his lesson from this incident and that we will not see such behavior by him or any player in the future."


In any case, Junior Broad now has to live with the fraud label for the rest of his life. Good for him.

[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by NinadJoshi

Stuart Fraud.

In any case, Junior Broad now has to live with the fraud label for the rest of his life. Good for him.

I wonder why the hue and cry over this case. The decision to ban Ramdin was a stupid one. It is always the responsibility of the umpire to give the decision and if he fails to mark a miss then he is the only one guilty if ever there is one.

The Australians should not make a big issue out of this as they have done it many times.

[Eddy]

These are VERY different cases.

- In case of Ramdin, he was asked whether he took the catch. He said yes, but the video evidence made it clear that he picked up the ball after it had hit the ground. It was deliberate.

- Stuart Broad was well within his rights to stand and wait for the umpire's decision. He was not asked whether he hit the ball or not. He simply refused to do the umpire's job and give himself out.

If at all,

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

- In case of Ramdin, he was asked whether he took the catch. He said yes,

I don't think Ramdin was asked at all.

[NinadJoshi]

Ramdin was fined for violating the 'spirit' of the game. No problem. However, the "spirit of the game" is not a written law. There is no real definition of "violation of spirit" anywhere. I checked. It is just a third party interpretation of a situation by the match umpire. I, the almighty ICC referee, may think Sachin Tendulkar standing at first slip violated the spirit of the game because he spit on the field. Sachin's justification = a bug went in my mouth - which could be perfectly correct. Me, the all powerful ICC referee, interprets he was trying to frazzle the batsman by spitting at him. What fun.

Having said that, can a fielder violate the spirit of a game ? Sure by claiming catches he didn't make. Case in point, err... lets say Ricky Ponting on a few occasions in his career.

Can an umpire violate the spirit of the game by giving blatantly stupid decisions? Indeed, case in point Aleem Dar, 3 days ago. Steve Bucknor, many times in the past many years.

Moreover, if the argument is : "How is a batsman at fault if the umpire decided not out despite a clean nick" (Ref. Stuart Broad v/s Rest of the bad bad world), then by the same standard: "How is the fielder at any fault if the on-field umpire has ALREADY given the batsman out despite the spilled catch." (Ref. Ramdin v/s ICC, where the on-field umpire had given the batsman OUT before the square leg umpire asked him to revert)). Clearly the umpire should be penalized for a lousy decision in both cases (giving out on a botched catch as well as giving not out on a blatant edge). Given that both acts are in "violation of the spirit" of the game, why penalize just the fielder and not the batsman, (or the umpire) ?

Can a system violate the spirit of the game? Sure. Whats with Australia (or any team) not having any more reviews left? Can a clear as daylight out become a not-out if you don't have any more reviews left? For all the freaking technology they use in a cricket match, why wouldn't the third umpire simply walkie-talkie down to Aleem Dar and give him a reality check on his stupid decision ? Can't Aleem Dar, just 15 seconds after not raising his finger turn his neck and see - along with 40,000 other witnesses on the ground - his own error on the 50-by-30 feet big TV screen installed next to the pavilion, and in the "spirit of the game" rectify his mistake there and then?

[PPS]

I think its just a case of different yardsticks being applied to different teams/players!
After the Champions Trophy final, Captain Cook openly criticized the umpiring(Bell dismissal) but he wasn't even reprimanded. Now if some Indian player had done the same i'm sure he would have been fined atleast.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Stuart Broad was well within his rights to stand and wait for the umpire's decision. He was not asked whether he hit the ball or not. He simply refused to do the umpire's job and give himself out.

That was the turning point of the match & proved decisive in the end. I think he just took a chance because Aussies didn't have any reviews remaining.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by carboy

I don't think Ramdin was asked at all.

Ramdin was not asked. Neither was Stuart Broad. The field umpire, with vast arsenal in his repertoire to get a decision right, need not rely on players' word to make correct judgment.

Originally Posted by NinadJoshi

Given that both acts are in "violation of the spirit" of the game, why penalize just the fielder and not the batsman, (or the umpire) ?

Before all, Chris Broad must be penalized for getting a judgement wrong after thinking over for considerable time.

Originally Posted by PPS

After the Champions Trophy final, Captain Cook openly criticized the umpiring(Bell dismissal) but he wasn't even reprimanded.

One player who consistently questions, argues with umpire is Stuart Broad. Gavaskar has some thoughts on this:

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes the reason why Stuart Broad gets away with questioning umpires' decisions all the time is because his father, Chris Broad, is an ICC match referee. Hence the umpires are reluctant to make a complaint. So Stuart Broad knows he can get away with it and indeed he has.

[C300]

Originally Posted by NinadJoshi

Ramdin was fined for violating the 'spirit' of the game. No problem. However, the "spirit of the game" is not a written law. There is no real definition of "violation of spirit" anywhere. I checked. It is just a third party interpretation of a situation by the match umpire. I, the almighty ICC referee, may think Sachin Tendulkar standing at first slip violated the spirit of the game because he spit on the field. Sachin's justification = a bug went in my mouth - which could be perfectly correct. Me, the all powerful ICC referee, interprets he was trying to frazzle the batsman by spitting at him. What fun.

Having said that, can a fielder violate the spirit of a game ? Sure by claiming catches he didn't make. Case in point, err... lets say Ricky Ponting on a few occasions in his career.

Can an umpire violate the spirit of the game by giving blatantly stupid decisions? Indeed, case in point Aleem Dar, 3 days ago. Steve Bucknor, many times in the past many years.

Moreover, if the argument is : "How is a batsman at fault if the umpire decided not out despite a clean nick" (Ref. Stuart Broad v/s Rest of the bad bad world), then by the same standard: "How is the fielder at any fault if the on-field umpire has ALREADY given the batsman out despite the spilled catch." (Ref. Ramdin v/s ICC, where the on-field umpire had given the batsman OUT before the square leg umpire asked him to revert)). Clearly the umpire should be penalized for a lousy decision in both cases (giving out on a botched catch as well as giving not out on a blatant edge). Given that both acts are in "violation of the spirit" of the game, why penalize just the fielder and not the batsman, (or the umpire) ?

Can a system violate the spirit of the game? Sure. Whats with Australia (or any team) not having any more reviews left? Can a clear as daylight out become a not-out if you don't have any more reviews left? For all the freaking technology they use in a cricket match, why wouldn't the third umpire simply walkie-talkie down to Aleem Dar and give him a reality check on his stupid decision ? Can't Aleem Dar, just 15 seconds after not raising his finger turn his neck and see - along with 40,000 other witnesses on the ground - his own error on the 50-by-30 feet big TV screen installed next to the pavilion, and in the "spirit of the game" rectify his mistake there and then?

Very valid points!
The key here is the 'intent' and 'interpretation of that intent'. When there is a gray area (as in case with 'spirit of the game'), the interpretations will vary. Thats the limitation of our human mind.

The DRS is an interesting conundrum. The partial implementation will never work. Go full blown or scrap it. We want 100% decisions to be correct and then we limit the number of reviews. A price has to be paid. We cant have it both ways.

[suhaas307]

In other news, Shahid Afridi flattened the West Indies with a stupendous all-round performance. It's sad that he lacks consistency.

[msdivy]

DRS might be an excellent technology. But umpires are making a mess of it. Case in point being Usman Khawaja's dismissal today. Khawaja played a shot. There was some noise, England players appealed and the umpire gave him out.

A bemused Khawaja asked for DRS review. DRS showed no contact with the bat. The 3rd umpire concluded that DRS was inconclusive, upheld the on field umpire decision and Khawaja was out. Well, isn't DRS implying non contact with bat conclusive evidence? What else must DRS say? Interested to see the 3rd umpire's take on this.

[hemanth.anand]

I had just checked the score a couple of hours ago and australia were 140-1 and looked like they were cruising to a win. Switched on now to check the score just before going to sleep and its 199-8.
That's some bowling.

[Gandhi]

Looks like many people missed this. Shikhar Dhawan scored 248 in a 50 over match against South Africa A today. This is the second highest List A score by any batsmen .

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/630767.html