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Journalism of Courage
When they eventually tire of venting protestations of civilisational hurt, Pakistan’s Test cricketers will be left with a single regret. That if they had just kept their wits about themselves and played on sportingly, the fourth Test against England at the Oval would have been theirs. All that grief about being charged with ball-tampering would have been so much better expressed through a level-headed bid for victory — instead of a churlish refusal to return on time to the field of play. It is not that Sunday’s high drama has placed the game in severe crisis. Not yet, at least. But by the actions of Pakistan’s cricketers and confrontational managers, one of the game’s most sacred compacts has been broken: the undertaking of players to abide by the umpire’s directions.
Both parties — umpire and team — come to this controversy with back stories. Darrell Hair — one of the two umpires at the Oval who docked the fielding Pakistanis five runs and ordered the ball be changed, saying its seam had been raised — has enraged South Asians before. Most notably, when he repeatedly called Muthiah Muralitharan for chucking in the mid-1990s and last season when he ruled Inzamam out for obstruction. Charges of bias routinely go with Hair. But Pakistan too are not new to allegations of ball tampering. Once, when the secrets of reverse swing were firmly held by Pakistan, it was routine for opposing sides to try to get the ball changed — especially in ODIs by arguing that it had been muddied and could not be sighted. The point is, if Pakistan had taken the charge in their stride and won the game — as they were on course to do — the argument would have swung with them.
Instead, they were irresponsibly led by their managers to make it an issue of pride. It led to the first forfeiture in the history of Test cricket. It, more incriminatingly, broke the agreement between player and spectator: to play the game, no matter how the odds stack up against the team. For cricket’s sake remember even Rahul Dravid served out punishment for ‘ball tampering’ in more ludicrous circumstances.
