The Men in the Muddle

This Test match has been about the delightful, the inexplicable and the forgettable; and as the days wore on, it moved sadly in that order. ...

This Test match has been about the delightful, the inexplicable and the forgettable; and as the days wore on, it moved sadly in that order. Australia8217;s cricket was outstanding but their field placements were unusual; McGrath opened with a slip and a gully and Warne had fielders ringing the boundary for Dravid when India were 100-6.

But the people at the centre of it all on Day 4 were the umpires and that is bad for the game. For all Harbhajan8217;s guile 8212; he bowled as well as any Indian off-spinner has 8212; and Warne8217;s approach to the world record, it was Billy Bowden and Steve Bucknor who played the lead role. They had a terrible day.

Bowden is an affable man but twice in this game he has cost India the initiative; first when he sent off Pathan before lunch on Day 3 and then when he somehow missed Sehwag8217;s big inside edge onto pad when India came out to save the game. It was difficult to tell which was poorer.

And I8217;m afraid the time has come for Steve Bucknor to look inward. When he made his reputation, he was a quiet, dignified man, someone whose presence on the field you felt reassured by. Increasingly he has grown intrusive and bossy and while he got two wrong as well, his gesture to Zaheer Khan when he ran onto the pitch on his follow through was offensive. Good umpires are firm and friendly but if you saw Bucknor you would have thought Zaheer had pinched his wallet.

A judge cannot have the demeanour of a lawyer. Sadly the umpires also gave the impression they were being influenced by the intensity of the appeal and you have to wonder about this whole sportsman spirit thing when fielders and bowlers jump up and down in front of umpires fully aware that the batsman is not out. Australia have often argued for a fielder to be trusted when the validity of a catch is in question.

But I8217;m afraid their case has grown terribly weak after their appeals against Pathan and Sehwag when they knew the batsmen weren8217;t out. You can8217;t ask for honesty if you don8217;t exhibit it and I thought the traditional Aussie approach was more forthright: I do my job and the umpire does his.

Everyone appeals when batsmen are not out these days, and no team can claim exception to it, but to cheat with one hand and ask for morality with the other is to pray in the morning and sin in the afternoon. It cannot happen. But India focus on the umpiring at their own peril. The top order needs to pull its weight and I am afraid the reliance on a strong opening partnership is becoming too acute. When the openers play well, India bat well but when they don8217;t India crumble. It is happening too often and as India head to Chennai, they need to ensure that their performance is better than that of their administration.

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Australia have been the better team and by some distance in this Test match.

SCOREBOARD

	nbsp;	Australia 1st innings: 474 India 1st innings: 246 Australia 2nd innings: J langer lbw b Pathan 0, M Hayden run out 30, S Katich c Dravid b Kumble 39, D Martyn c sub Kaif b Harbhajan 45, D Lehmann c Chopra b Harbhajan 14, M Clarke c Chopra b Harbhajan 17, A Gilchrist c Chopra b Kumble 26, S Warne c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 31, J Gillespie c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 8, M Kasprowicz c Dravid b Harbhajan 8, G McGrath not out 3. Extras: b-2, lb-1, nb-3, w-1 7 Total: all out in 78.1 overs 228 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-65, 3-86, 4-104, 5-146, 6-167,7-204, 8-216, 9-217. Bowling: Pathan 12-2-38-1, Zaheer 13-1-45-0, Harbhajan 30.1-5-78-6, Kumble 23-4-64-2. India 2nd innings: A Chopra lbw b Gillespie 5, V Sehwag lbw b McGrath 0, R Dravid batting 47, S Ganguly run out 5, V Laxman lbw b Warne 3, Yuvraj Singh c Gilchrist b McGrath 27, P Patel lbw b Warne 4, Irfan Pathan batting 7. Extras: b-2, lb-4, nb-1 7. Total: for 6 wkts, 49 overs 105 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-7, 3-12, 4-19, 5-81, 6-86 Bowling: McGrath 12-8-9-2, Gillespie 10-4-18-1, Kasprowicz 6-1-12-0, Warne 19-4-60-2, Lehmann 2-2-0-0.	nbsp;