A few months ago the Pakistani cricket captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq precipitated a crisis by refusing to take to the field after a ball-tampering decision in a Test match with England. He rationalised his decision as follows. "The pride of the nation has been hurt, we have been unfairly labelled as cheats". See here for more. Many commentators (who should have known better) appeared to consider that this sense of honour meant that the usual concept of the referee's decision being final did not apply to Pakistan. I don't agree with this, but the cowardly ICC chief Malcolm Speed made it clear which side he was taking when, by his actions, he hung the international umpire Darrell Hair out to dry.
I hope that this breaking news will chastise them and jolt them out of their arrogant disregard for the cricket authorities. Are they going to admit that they can now be fairly labeled as cheats?
3 comments:
I recall some of the accusations of cheating were met with counter-accusations of racism too!
I suppose on this basis, in the interests of balance, of course, it is only right to condemn British athletics as being composed of cheats because of those that were found guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs.
I agree Bob. Ignoring the fact that our British sprinters can't pass a damned baton on, my view is similar to Darren Campbell's who was also roundly condemned at the time. I now have virtually nil interest in world sprinting and the same goes for cycling after the latest round of scandals.
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