Australia and India Cricketers Drop Honor System on Catches

Cricket has always been a game played in a rather gentlemanly way. Players have been known to walk away from the stumps announcing to the umpire that they were out. India and Australia, currently in the middle of a Test series, have abandoned an agreement whereby the teams would rely in the integrity of a player who makes a low catch as to whether the ball really was caught. It is a sad day for Test cricket.

A beautiful example of how the game is meant to be played was detailed on Cricketonline.com “BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India]statistician Sudhir Vaidya cited certain incidents of cricket where the players have shown good sportsmanship. India's skipper GR Viswanath caught RW Taylor of England in the slips on the second day in the only Test at Mumbai in 1979-80. Umpire SK Hanumantha Rao raised his hand instantaneously to declare Taylor out, caught by Viswanath off Kapil Dev. However, Taylor confessed to the Indian skipper that he had not played the ball. Thereupon Viswanath went up to the umpire to tell him the fact and requested him to revoke his decision. The umpire changed his decision and Taylor went on to add 171 runs with Ian Botham for the sixth wicket, and ensured victory for England in the Test. The change of decision changed the course of the match." In cricket, how one wins matters as much as whether one wins.

The current tour of Australia by India has not been a particularly happy one for true fans of the game. Yes, there has been what a West Indian old-timer would call “lovely cricket.” However, there has also been racial abuse. Harbhajan Singh was suspended for three matches after calling the only non-white on the Australian side, Andrew Symonds, a “monkey.” India threatened to withdraw from the tour. Everyone has calmed down a bit, but the hard feelings are still there.

So the gentlemanly approach has been axed on the grounds that neither side trusts the other to play fairly. India captain Anil Kumble said: "I think it's best left to the judgement of the umpires and the match referee" as to when a player is out.”

Aussie Captain Ricky Ponting said, “I’ve just had a chat with both umpires about the whole thing and they'll be endeavouring to make the call between themselves on the field rather than just referring everything, which is the way I prefer it to be.” It would be a sorry day for cricket when the umpires cannot rely on the players, which is truly an anomaly in the world of sport. And one worth keeping if only to show that sportsmanship is part and parcel of competition as well as wins and losses.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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