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Cricket's big cover up act

ICC wants to shove the ball tampering controversy under the magic Arabian carpet in their Dubai office.

Malcolm Speed the CEO of ICC says, "Did the Pakistan team change the nature of the ball in an illegal manner under the Laws of Cricket and did its refusal to take the field after the tea interval bring the game into disrepute?"

He must be kidding, why is he having second thoughts when all it takes is to take a look at the ball. If he finds it smooth and shiny, he should get rid of the controversial Hair.

Further evidence of ICC's spineless character was revealed today when Speed said, "We also need some advice about the power of the executive board to in effect overturn a properly laid Code of Conduct charge by an umpire."

If the ball was not tampered why didn't Prcoter or ICC do anything for all these days? Where is that ball now? This is a major cover up -- no transparency at all.

Whether these half-baked lawyers are competent to run the game is what everyone should be discussing.

The weirdest thing about this issue is that ICC is an executive body. When faced with a tough situation, Mr. Speed comes up with this statement, "This has become a big issue, an international issue, and there are all sorts of ramifications that have occurred that we wish hadn't occurred."

This has become an issue just cause the ball was not shown to the public. ICC cannot be the police and the judge.

Percy Sonn, President, ICC, says: "The two teams, England and Pakistan, have produced some superb cricket this summer and the best result for everyone now would be for them to produce more of the same in the forthcoming NatWest Series.

"We have been assured by the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, Mr Shaharyar Khan, that his side intends to contest the series as scheduled and we welcome that decision as the first step on the road to a return to normalcy.

"I now call on both sides to go out and put a smile back on the face of the world's cricket lovers with some superb action and remind everyone why this is such a great game."


We just don't have to hear from a Percy Sonn whether the game is great or not. I love this game, more than you do Percy. What Percy is saying is that both sides should 'put a smile back on the face of the cricket lovers'. Big cover up is what ICC wants.

Again, all he has to do is stop scratching his balls and look at the tampered ball. If Hair was wrong, fire him. If Hair was right, ban Pakistan for six months for cheating.

Wasn't there another South African, one Percy would know too well, Mike Procter, who had a look at that ball on that particularly dramatic day at The Oval?

By publishing Hair's internal emails, ICC has brought the game to disrepute.

There is an effort to deflect the main issue here, which is all about the tampered ball. It is not clearly whether Hair is a racist, whether Hair is an idiot to have emailed to the bigger idiots in the ICC, whether half a million is a decent compensation for an umpire to be hung out to dry... etc etc.

The current ICC Management is a bunch of jokers. Why there be legal advice and hearing and all that? Photographs and video recordings of the condition of the ball should be published first.

How can we expect this bunch of idiots to save the game?

The Police Raj of ICC is similar to the dictatorship of a certain military ruler who overthrew democracy and captured power in Pakistan. Yes, ICC and Pakistan will understand that sort of language.

This is the time to save cricket.

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