Drama galore

I wanted to start posting earlier, but the transition from blogger to blogger beta took a little while longer than expected.

Every England Pakistan series, something or the other just has to happen to create a drama. Last time it was Afridi's shenanigans, and this time it was Darrell Hair doing what he does best: screwing with the sub-continentals.

Just to recap, and to editorialize: It was an eventful day of cricket, with interesting battles between bat and ball. Both Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif were having good spells and bad, with Danish Kaneria causing an increasing amount of difficult for the English batsmen. To give the English credit, Pietersen, Cook and Strauss battled well to get England to within 75 runs of England's lead before tea and when the climax of the drama came.

It all started about an hour before the tea break, when Darrell Hair suddenly began to take a great deal of interest in the ball. Some conversations with the other umpire, and next thing you know, the English batsmen were like kids in a candy shop, choosing the ball that looked the most like a lollypop from an open box. Inzamam looked very upset, and despite multiple questions got no answers. To make matters worse, Darrell Hair awarded England 5 runs, a clear indication that he thought the Pakistani team had been cheating, and were trying to doctor the ball.

The innings continued, and then after the tea break, Pakistan refused to come out on the field. In fact, the players who could be seen, were seen without their kit. The English batsmen and the umpires walked out, waited, and then walked back in. Darrell Hair asked the players if they were coming out, and Inzamam at that point asked for any proof that Pakistan had doctored the ball. Hair refused to answer that question and just walked away.

Some frantic negotiations followed, and finally the English batsmen and the Pakistani team took to the field. The umpires now refused, and proceeded to award the match to the English, charging Pakistan with the FIRST, i repeat, FIRST forfeited test match in history.

While this is a summary of events, I must say that even after all of this drama, there has been NO proof provided by the television cameras or by Darrell Hair that Pakistan had in any way tampered with the ball. Just because the ball was reverse swinging doesn't mean there had been any monkey business. To accuse a side of cheating with no proof, is about as capricious as someone in power can be, which is what Darrell Hair has displayed. Pakistan was completely justified in displaying their discontent, and really anger with being treated in such a ridiculous way, without even being offered any explanations. I stand by Inzamam and the boys.