From: vigneswa@ecs.umass.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket,soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: "Don't Blame Miandad......", says Sunil Gavaskar
Date: 17 Aug 92 12:14:50 GMT

	"Another reason for their (Pakistani) distrust of English umpires 
is because they  constantly keep checking the ball to see  if it is being 
tampered with when Pakistanis are fielding while they  don't do that when 
England is  fielding and  we know that  the English players are no saints.
Why last year John  Holder who found that one side  of the ball was being 
scratched and brought it to the notice of Gooch, got a bad report for his 
efforts and now finds himself out of the test panel?...", writes Gavaskar, 
the former  Indian captain writes in the Sportstar (India) in  his column.  
Let me produce Sunny's article here, without permission.

===
	The Aaqib Javed - Roy Palmer confrontation brought into focus once
again the player - umpire relationship when there are no third country um-
pires.  There is not the slighest  doubt in my mind that if there had been 
a third country umpire  the ugly scenes one saw at the Old Trafford  would 
not have been seen.  Experience has shawn that the players accept the mis-
takes from  the third country umpires without display of tantrums for they 
are well aware  that the umpires are human and they are bound to make mis-
takes in much the  same way that players make.  However the  third country 
umpires  take away  the finger of  bias and the  perception that laws  are 
interpretted to suit the home team.  It is this perception that causes all
the problems.

	Every country has its own playing conditions, and by  conditions I 
mean the pitches, the  weather and the skills.  The umpires take this into 
account  when giving their decisions  but a touring team which is not used
to the  conditions will  think that those decisions are biased.  How often 
have team to our sub-continent been critical  of the interpretation of the 
LBW rule by our  umpires and how often  our team has been  critical of the
same when we tour othercountires!

	It was the concern  about the interpretation of  the short-pitched 
rule that brought about the Aaqib-Palmer confrontation.  Aaqib  questioned 
(rightly in my opinion) how the ball Devon Malcom had ducked into could be 
called a bumber since it did not pass  the batsman when he was standing in 
normal stance.  Umpire Palmer  warned him for this delivery  and naturally
the Pakistanis were upset because Malcom bounced a few around Waqar Younis' 
head  without being  similarly warned.  Now you  see what I mean about the 
laws are  interpreted to  suit the home team.  Malcom  had not been warned, 
but Aaqib was.  No wonder the Pakis got aggressive.

	For years, English media has gone on about umpiring in the sub-con-
tinent  and while  we will try  to be nice  guys, the  Pakistanis  are not 
bothered  about being so.  All that  they want  is to win and if  they are 
aggressive in doing so then that's what they will be.  They are not a popu-
lar side, but that's because they are giving England hell.  Another reason 
for their  distrust of  English  umpires is  because they  constantly keep 
checking the ball to see  if it is being tampered with when Pakistanis are 
fielding while they  don't do that when  England is  fielding and  we know 
that the English players are no saints. Why last year John Holder who found 
that one side of the ball was being scratched and brought it to the notice 
of the England captain Graham Gooch, got a bad  report for his efforts and 
now finds himself out of the test panel.

	The English  media may  have been   fair and impartial in the past, 
but certainly  since the  time I have been playing I  have found that they 
are  pretty parochial  and nationalistic to  the extent of the doubting of 
the intergrity of other countries' players. Their support (excuses, if you 
please) for their  players is total  and they will turn a  blind eye and a 
deaf ear for gamesmanship  indulged by their players but the slighest hint 
of that from  the opposition will invite columns written about rather than
game.  So we had  reams of newsprint  used in castigating both Aaqib Javed 
and Javed  Miandad about the  sweater incident which took place at the end
 of the over in which Aaqib bowled more than one short-pitched to Malcolm.

	The fact that  umpire Palmer thrust the sweater and white hat into 
the bowler's hands.  It  certainly  was not gentle  and looked  more as if 
Palmer was  getting rid of  some rubbish from  his hands.  Now if the same 
thing had been  done by  Shakoor Rana, then the same  English media  would 
have jumped at him but here they all made out as if there was nothing wrong
in  the manner in  which the  sweater and  cap were handed back.  When the
skipper  remonstrated with the umpire for the manner in which the bowler's
belongings were  handed back, the media got on his back.  Mike Gatting and
the rest  of the team got a bonus of 1000 pounds each for hardships on the
Pakistani tour.

	All Javed Miandad will get is more of a bad name which is pity for
here is a man  who will always  come to rescue of his team and his players.
Once  again it is  because of the image that  English media have given him
that there is little  recognition of his tremendous feats as a batsman and
absolutely  no recognition of  his tactical  moves which saw Pakistan take 
the upper hand  in the series, especially in the Lord's test where he made 
the bowling  changes which  everybody thought  were wrong, but turned  out 
dead right.

	Yet there was hardly a mention of that in the media which is hardly
surprising if one  were to visit the media box and see those who sit there
have hardly  ever played cricket.  No wonder their reporting is subjective 
and not  objective.  Perhaps, there  is a  greater  need to  have an inter-
national  referee to  monitor the comments  on the game by media for their 
more  possibility of mischief there than any  players can get up to on the
field.
====
Vicky:
UMass, Aug 17
Type setting and typos are my own.
++++
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