Sunday, April 29, 2007

Gilchrist & Squash Balls: Is it Cheating?

It has been revealed that Adam Gilchrist had a squash ball in his bottom hand to improve his grip. I wonder whether anyone would consider this to be cheating? Isn't it using an unauthorized object/device to aid in his grip?

Batting gloves are made to a specific standard. Bowlers, for example, are not allowed to have tape on their fingers (even if they are injured) since it would help them grip the ball. In an age where issues such as ball-tampering are big issues, I certainly think this needs some investigation. Using such aids during practice is one, but in an official match -- is another matter.

I know this topic is tangential to the purpose of this blog, and some might say I'm crazy for suggesting it's illegal. But, any thoughts?

Supporting news reports:
CNN , Yahoo

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

One could say that it is cheating, but really, one would think that it is not.

Anonymous said...

I saw a post match commentary on Sky with Nassar Hussein and (crap I can't remember his name, some Australian player who said this has been used before and explained it). I'd think it's illegal anyway, but maybe not.

Anonymous said...

It certainly cant be called cheating,
SA used earphones in one of the world up matches.Was that cheating nope.

This is something that is not documented in any of the rules book of cricket.
Hence cant be called cheating.Now it can be analysed and rules can be made.

Anyways Do u guys think squash ball or no squah ball,would have made any difference to the outcome.

In fact,I want to suggest Oxford to introduce a new word in their dictionary

AUSTRALIAN (N) == Unbeatable

Regards
Nipoon

Anonymous said...

It is not "cheating", because he did it openly. He may have broken the rules without realising it, which is a different thing.

Faz said...

Its downright cheating..... no doubt, unless it is announced before and approved by the umpires.

Anonymous said...

If it is cheating, then the fact that all the aussie bowlers have straight elbows evens it out.

Faz said...

Fox Sports:

http://msn.foxsports.com/cricket/story/6750260

Anonymous said...

It would've been illegal if a subcontinent player had done it. Imagine Jayasuriya destroying the Aussie bowlers with a squash ball in his glove... They would've stripped us off the world cup by now.
But like everything else in cricket, it's alright for the Aussies to do it. Afterall cheating is in their blood, they know no better.

Offthebeatentrack said...

it would have been cheating if a non-Australian batsmen had done it...just like it would have been an 'undeserved' victory if the conditions had favoured Sri Lanka like they did Australia...but u know what thats cricket...we'll win next time

Anonymous said...

I was also quite surprised when I first heard that he's got a squash ball inside the glove, my first thoughts were 'is that legal? and is that fair?'. Maybe there are no set rules on 'how to wear gloves for a batsman' unlike the heavy rules for bowlers. So maybe it's not classified as illegal, but I'm still not sure if it's ethical.

But as u guys said, if a subcontinent player did the same thing, I'm damn sure the Aussies would have made a big fuss over it, and called an investigation to set the thing straight.

Anonymous said...

Hey nipoon,

yes the squash ball would have certainly made some difference. I won't say that the Sri Lankans would have won, probably not. But it's Gilchrist who single handedly built the innings. He was the most influential factor in the whole match. So the game could have been a lot different if his performance had been any different.

Anonymous said...

Russel Arnold has expressed intentions that he'd like to get involved in commentary work.

"In the long-term I would like to get involved in commentary work, which I think I would really enjoy, and possibly coaching. "


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/sri_lanka/6604759.stm

Anonymous said...

Even if it is not illegal, it is definitely unsportman-like behavior!

Simple rules of physics dictate that the springiness of the squash ball in the bottom hand glove would have obviously propelled the ball to come of the bat with great momentum, thus helping it speed to the boundary for many fours and sixes!

This clearly explains why Gilchrist clearly stood far apart as a batsmen (both Australian and Sri Lankan) in this match played under heavy, overcast conditions. His awesome array of fours and sixes were obviously aided by a spring device (squash ball).

Definitely unsportsman-like! Now we all know that it wasn't a "level playing field" in the WC finals!

Maybe SLC should make a formal complaint to the ICC whilst accepting the outcome of the final!

Anonymous said...

According to the rules he cannot wear anything under his gloves that is not visible.
Hence, cheating! there is a lively debate going on at slcricket.com where rulebook regulations were cited.

Anonymous said...

Obviously it is acceptable to wear something under his gloves that is not visible externally - remember Roshan Mahanama wearing inner gloves when batting?

Also, you ever heard of sour grapes? We blame the Australians for whining when we thrash them, but now that we've lost, the best we have to offer are excuses - the fast pitch, the toss, the reduced overs and now, Gilchrist's squash ball.

We've all seen that Gilchrist can be sportsmanlike, when he walked after being caught off the glove, in the 2003 World Cup semi. So, it would appear he thought that this would be OK; in fact, now that it seems to be acceptable, why not use the same tactic ourselves?

None of this would have been an issue if we'd bowled tightly and got Gilchrist out early. Let's look for the mistakes with our own performance, rather than making excuses. That's the best way to improve and make sure we thrash the Aussies next time, squash ball or no squash ball!

Anonymous said...

Would it occur to any of you that any divine help due to wearing 'pirith nool', crosses etc. might be considered unsportsmanlike?

After all, it is a performance enhancer of a different kind (spiritual).

Looking for excuses like this will result in us becoming as bad and ill-tempered as Australia, when they lose.

Anonymous said...

My point here is that Gilchrist himself said that he used the squash ball to help him improve his grip. The placement of it is such that, the bat would not rotate in your hand. This would mean, it's not possible to mis-hit.
I think it's quite silly to compare it to pirith-nool.

Anonymous said...

I agree with everyone who is against with the squash ball idea. This clearly indicates that's what helped him to score 149 as he himslef claimed. Its not his talent, its cheating. This is totally unfair. Nobody should think that we are trying to be like aussies when we loses, or trying to make excuses for the defeat. We as cricket fans have right to know weather its legal or not. If he hasn't used his performance enhancer, Sri Lanka would have defenitely won the game. Sri Lanka is such a innocent and talented team. I am sure it is the universal force that made Gilchrist to reveal his secret to the whole world so that everybody knows how they won the world cup. We all should raise a voice against it, at leaset to know if its legal or not, even if it doesn't change the out come.

Anonymous said...

Yup I agree with u above, it's not a question about making excuses after losing. Even without the squash ball, Australia is an excellent team and they deserve to win.

But forget that, we have to question the move, if we just stay nice and look pretty we are being very naive.

We have to fight for what is right and what is not.

Anonymous said...

I would like to discuss the effects of this method in scientific terms.
A squash ball is a rubber ball so that when applied pressure unlike cricket ball it compresses and when the pressure is released it take original shape. In short it acts like a spring (e.g.: motor bicycle shock absorber). So what happen when a batman has a squash ball in the palm of his bottom hand? When a batsman swings the bat until it hits the ball there is pressure on his bottom hand. This pressure compresses the squash ball thus storing energy in the ball similar to spring. Just after the ball hit the bat (ball still touching the bat) this pressure starts to relax while the bat is moving forward. At the same time the energy stored in the squash ball release its energy to the bat in the form of kinetic energy. The result is that the bat moves faster than normal (without a ball in the glove). As a result the release speed of the cricket ball become faster resulting the ball traveling further (more 6s and 4s) before hitting the ground. The down side is because the bat travel faster than normal the batmen might loose control of the bat. This happened once in the Adam Gilchrist´s innings. If you have any doubts please try to do it yourself and see the result.
In brief Adam Gilchrist´s use of squash ball allowed him to his the ball further in the field.

An interesting statistic:
Adam Gilchrist faced 104 balls and hit 13 4´s and 8 6´s
All the other Australian batsmen faced 127 balls and hit just 7 4´s and 2 6´s (Hayden, ponting, Symonds, Watson, etc)
Sanath Jayasuriya who has most one day sixes had no 6s his knock of 63

Is this method legal? I don’t know (look at rules books)
Is other batsmen using this method? I don’t know either

Unknown said...

I would like to discuss the effects of this method in scientific terms.
A squash ball is a rubber ball so that when applied pressure unlike cricket ball it compresses and when the pressure is released it take original shape. In short it acts like a spring (e.g.: motor bicycle shock absorber). So what happen when a batman has a squash ball in the palm of his bottom hand? When a batsman swings the bat until it hits the ball there is pressure on his bottom hand. This pressure compresses the squash ball thus storing energy in the ball similar to spring. Just after the ball hit the bat (ball still touching the bat) this pressure starts to relax while the bat is moving forward. At the same time the energy stored in the squash ball release its energy to the bat in the form of kinetic energy. The result is that the bat moves faster than normal (without a ball in the glove). As a result the release speed of the cricket ball become faster resulting the ball traveling further (more 6s and 4s) before hitting the ground. The down side is because the bat travel faster than normal the batmen might loose control of the bat. This happened once in the Adam Gilchrist´s innings. If you have any doubts please try to do it yourself and see the result.
In brief Adam Gilchrist´s use of squash ball allowed him to his the ball further in the field.

An interesting statistic:
Adam Gilchrist faced 104 balls and hit 13 4´s and 8 6´s
All the other Australian batsmen faced 127 balls and hit just 7 4´s and 2 6´s (Hayden, ponting, Symonds, Watson, etc)
Sanath Jayasuriya who has most one day sixes had no 6s his knock of 63

Is this method legal? I don’t know (look at rules books)
Is other batsmen using this method? I don’t know either

Anonymous said...

I hope someone is bring the issue of Gilchrist and his squash ball out into the open. It has all the stink of a big cheat. Please check out the article by Indian sports writer Krishna Prasad (www.andhracafe.com) which is linked on the SL website www.theacademic.org. He gives solid evidence of previous attempts by Lillee, Styris, Cronjie and others to introduce various devices to help them win. All were disallowed! Keep up the debate and let's get the Cup back where it belongs!

Anonymous said...

I would think squash ball made the difference in the out come. Think about this. If he did not use sq ball he could not have made that huge score, which could have lowered the run rate and the target score. Plus by 20 overs Sri Lanka was only little behind. Since the target was high, run rate kept getting increased. Again, if Gill did not use his performance enhancer, target score could have been lower, rr lower and the Sri Lankans would not have to push themselves harder, and could have battered more mentally and physically prepared and relaxed knowing its achievable. I firmly believe sq ball gave the added advantage over Aussies win as Gill himself claimed, whether it is legal or illegal . As a team and individually Aussies were scared of Sri Lankan team and knew its gonna be a tough one for them, thats why they used a external source to defeat almighty Sri Lankans, the only way. Who knows who else used what. Everybody talk about how great the Aussies and they are the undefeatable, but is it still true after the secret has been revealed?. Sri Lankans are great at fighting till the last moment and which has proved earlier. Even with the worse weather condition and with poor lighting Sri Lankans could have turned around the outcome of the game, if sq ball did not play a major roll.
This convinced me one more time Sri Lankans are the true champions.

I was on fire especially between semi and final and after the final I thought I could get back to my work peacefully now that the battle is over. But this squash ball has done too much damage to the peace of everyone who loves cricket. Don't you think so?

Anonymous said...

When Vaas and Murali was not included in super 8 against Aussie, it was a big issue and talked lot about it. I am so surprised none of those people talk a single word about this Gilchrist's sqaush ball legallity or whatever. There is not a single artcle discussing about this in cricinfo. Oh God! please bring justice and help resolve this matter.

Anonymous said...

When Greg Chappel first bowled under arm, it was not illegal because it wasn't in the rules. But afterwards since people questioned it, it was made illegal!

This squash ball problem must be questioned!!!

I asked the question from the Cricinfo "Ask Steven" column. Still no reply. If we can find some places where we can raise the question.. think that might be good.

Anonymous said...

I suggest "Banda" looks up the definition of Sour Grapes first... If we had lost and then pretended we never wanted to win, then it would have been Sour Grapes (you can't reach the grapes, so you say you don't want em 'cos they're sour anyway). That's obviously not the case here, we all wanted SL to win, and realise we lost, but in perhaps unfair circumstances.

Anonymous said...

c'mon guys, why deviate from our favourite subject - Ranjith Fernando!

Anonymous said...

I believe that Sri Lanka cricket should bring this matter out in the open and discuss it with the ICC. If a player is going to get an unfair advantage by adding a squash ball into his glove, that should not be permitted.

As a RFS member above, rightly expressed that if Sri Lanka had done something like this, I'm sure those sad Australians would have complained to the match referee and asked the ICC to ban him, plus annul his score. May be even strip Sri Lanka of the WC if they had won it.

Hopefully something about this is going to be done soon.

Anonymous said...

Please drop an email to the ICC regarding this.

Contact details: http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/contact-us.html

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,

If you want to post any comment against Gill's squash ball post it in bbc.com, under "Aussie joy cut through...." That is more effective than here, as we can display it to more community. Let's get the job done guys, we can do it. All the best! Post as many comments as possible.

Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Indians are also worried about this issue

http://andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=22452

http://churumuri. wordpress. com/2007/ 05/01/how- legal-was- adam-gilchrists- hidden-ball/


And by the way, if in any case no action is taken against this, this case could be a precedent for the future. And anyone can hide 'anything' they want inside a glove to help with their batting!
Seriously why not?

Anonymous said...

I don't know if this letter was sent to the ICC president, I just thought of sharing with u about the 'rules'. It's quite long, so maybe the blogger can edit some of the unneccessary stuff.


R. George Manuelpillai Tel: 2588578
85/25 Jawatha Gardens
Colombo 05

April 30, 2007

The President
The International Cricket Council
World Cup Tournament
P.O. Box 5000/70
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates


Dear Sir,

Subject: 2007 World Cup winners -Australian Cricket Team be
Disqualified and the Sri Lanka Cricket Team be declared
as the winners, because Adam Gilchrist admits concealing
a performance enhancing device, inside his bottom hand
glove a squash ball.




Adam Gilchrist, the opening batsman for Australia admits to the correspondent, Bridgetown, Saturday, AFP of using a squash ball concealed inside his bottom hand glove, a performance enhancing device, to catapult the cricket ball. Using a squash ball enclosed inside the glove is considered as an illegal practice, resulting in catapulting and/or catastrophic consequences, thereby assisting Gilchrist to accumulate an induced score of 149 runs in the one day cricket finals at Barbados.

The Laws of Cricket 2000 Code 2 Ed. 2003: The Preamble to the Laws- specifically states that “the game of Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that; it should be played not only within the rules, but also with the spirit of the game. Any action thereof, that is seen to abuse this spirit cause injury to the game itself. The major responsibility of ensuring the spirit of fair-play rests with the Captain”.

Based on the information related above, the opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist used a performance enhancing device in his bottom hand glove, a squash ball, challenging not only within its laws of Cricket, but also within the ‘spirit of the game’. Any action which is seen to abuse the spirit causes injury to the game itself. Based on the Preamble, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified for the illegal practice of concealing a squash ball in the glove, a performance enhancing device. In lieu, the Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the Cricket World Cup 2007.

The Captain was aware of the fact that Adam Gilchrist did practice wearing the spring loaded squash ball, concealed in the glove, a prohibitive exercise, with his friend, a squash player - Bob Meuleman, Western Australian Cricketer. So, the Captain in the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’, should have brought it to the notice of the

Page 2:


Umpires, and obtained prior approval, before the Cricket game got started. Therefore it is pertinent that the ICC Committee take disciplinary action against both Gilchrist and the Captain-as they are jointly and severely guilty of the illegal device that was employed, and should be suspended for life. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team be disqualified from the World Cricket Cup 2007, and the cup be re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.

The characteristic of the squash ball indicates that the ball is made of vulcanised rubber with additions of polymers and synthetic material to achieve a degree of fairly low resilience. The lower the resilience of the object the higher the proportion of energy used in deforming it. Thus when a batsmen hits the cricket ball, the air inside the squash ball gets pressurised or deformed, releasing a spring load of energy, that is transferred directly to the bat, resulting in a catapulting effect on the cricket ball, as evidenced by the spectators, watching Gilchrist’s batting spell bound.

In this context, it is evident that wearing a performance enhancing device (Squash ball) is prohibitive against the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’ and is analogous to an Athlete using performance enhancing drugs to win his event. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified from the World Cup 2007 and in lieu Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the World Cup 2007

Laws’ the Bat: It defines that the bat should be made solely of wood and the hand and glove be part of the bat The specification of the glove is not defined, but it is prohibitive to enclose a performance enhancing device in the glove. Tampering the glove is synonymous to the tampering of the cricket ball, thus the practice is not allowed/acceptable. Moreover, it is explicit that no outside appliance/device can be introduced into the glove; more specifically a spring loaded device as evidenced in the squash ball and is prohibitive.

In conclusion, I write with a firm hand that the ICC conduct disciplinary hearings and the 2007 World Cricket Cup re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Club and a decision that both Adam Gilchrist and the Australian Captain be banned for Life.

In the event I do not hear from you, Legal Action will be meted against the ICC.

Soliciting your assistance,

Yours sincerely,



R. George Manuelpillai
A cricketer and an enthusiast .from Sri Lanka
Page 3:


CC: 1. The President – MMC – I would appreciate the views from your office, and
your actions with the ICC and the Australian Cricket Board..
2. The 16 Cricket Teams – Please be reminded that Adam Gilchrist did admit to
concealing a squash ball in his glove. What assurance is there that other
Australian Cricketers too may have used the same technique in recording big
scores in the tournament just concluded? I suggest that in the ‘Spirit of the
Cricket Game’ that all the teams that did loose their matches to the Australian
Team should take legal action individually or in unison against the ICC and/or
the Australian board, for the use of a Performance Enhancing Device, a
catapulting effect to register big scores

Anonymous said...

Gilchrist and his squash ball

http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/4/14470.html#News_Responses

Anonymous said...

Thushan Sanjeewa
However and anyone said, this is a big cheat and Gilcrist is a cheater. no argument on it. this is similar as some takes drugs before playing a game. only difference is this a physical trick. if ICC has spin, they should ban this victory and should ban Gilcrist sportship in cricket. But surely, they (ICC) will not get any further action becuase SL is one of Asian country and they bow their head toward Aussies. Simply this is matter of SKIN COLOUR. para suddange hati ohama thamai.

Thushan Sanjeewa
Grad Student
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Sk, Canada.

Anonymous said...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21671078-2,00.html

http://wordpress.com/tag/cricket-etcetera/

Gillchrist's innings seems to be illegal, so ICC should take serious action.

Even if it is not illegal at this point, it is against the true interst of the game and against the sportsmanship. It can be a precedent.

ICC should cancel the final or play it again or hand it over to Sri Lanka bcos they were seriously cheated here and deserve to win.

Guys, pls spread the world with this,,email to all your contacts, publish in your blogs,,,,tell media. We need to get this thru somehow.

Anonymous said...

A FWD Message:

All,

Gilchrist's innings is against the cricket laws at the WC Final. He had a hidden squash ball inside is hand glove. This is against the true interest of the game and it is definitely not true sportsmanship. If he was honest, he could have informed about it to the umpires or the Sri Lankan captain before starting his innings, but he didn't, he was hiding it till he scored a century to gain undue advantage and destroy Sri Lankan hopes.

It was not a natural innings. Sri Lanka did not loose against Australia, they lost against illegally stronger Gilly.

If a Sri Lankan did this, we all know how Australians would have behaved, we know how they treated and even today treat great Murali, the best bowler in history of cricket. So, we shouldn't be negative or feel bad about pushing this, we need to take this to the highest level possible.

Do a Google search, many people are writing and talking about it, but it needs to go to the international level, so please forward this to all you know, write in your websites, inform the media, create an awareness and get respective cricket administrators to act.

May be the final match can be cancelled or replayed. At least, if all accept that it was becuase of an illegal innings that Sri Lanka lost, the SL team can be considered the world's best cricket team even though they don't hold the cup!

Regards,
True Cricket Lovers

Spread the word!

Anonymous said...

___________________________________________________
R. George Manuelpillai Tel: 2588578
85/25 Jawatha Gardens
Colombo 05

April 30, 2007

The President
The International Cricket Council
World Cup Tournament
P.O. Box 5000/70
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates


Dear Sir,

Subject: 2007 World Cup winners -Australian Cricket Team be
Disqualified and the Sri Lanka Cricket Team be declared
as the winners, because Adam Gilchrist admits concealing
a performance enhancing device, inside his bottom hand
glove a squash ball.

Adam Gilchrist, the opening batsman for Australia admits to the correspondent, Bridgetown, Saturday, AFP of using a squash ball concealed inside his bottom hand glove, a performance enhancing device, to catapult the cricket ball. Using a squash ball enclosed inside the glove is considered as an illegal practice, resulting in catapulting and/or catastrophic consequences, thereby assisting Gilchrist to accumulate an induced score of 149 runs in the one day cricket finals at Barbados.

The Laws of Cricket 2000 Code 2 Ed. 2003: The Preamble to the Laws- specifically states that “the game of Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that; it should be played not only within the rules, but also with the spirit of the game. Any action thereof, that is seen to abuse this spirit cause injury to the game itself. The major responsibility of ensuring the spirit of fair-play rests with the Captain”.

Based on the information related above, the opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist used a performance enhancing device in his bottom hand glove, a squash ball, challenging not only within its laws of Cricket, but also within the ‘spirit of the game’. Any action which is seen to abuse the spirit causes injury to the game itself. Based on the Preamble, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified for the illegal practice of concealing a squash ball in the glove, a performance enhancing device. In lieu, the Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the Cricket World Cup 2007.

The Captain was aware of the fact that Adam Gilchrist did practice wearing the spring loaded squash ball, concealed in the glove, a prohibitive exercise, with his friend, a squash player - Bob Meuleman, Western Australian Cricketer. So, the Captain in the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’, should have brought it to the notice of the

Page 2:


Umpires, and obtained prior approval, before the Cricket game got started. Therefore it is pertinent that the ICC Committee take disciplinary action against both Gilchrist and the Captain-as they are jointly and severely guilty of the illegal device that was employed, and should be suspended for life. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team be disqualified from the World Cricket Cup 2007, and the cup be re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.

The characteristic of the squash ball indicates that the ball is made of vulcanised rubber with additions of polymers and synthetic material to achieve a degree of fairly low resilience. The lower the resilience of the object the higher the proportion of energy used in deforming it. Thus when a batsmen hits the cricket ball, the air inside the squash ball gets pressurised or deformed, releasing a spring load of energy, that is transferred directly to the bat, resulting in a catapulting effect on the cricket ball, as evidenced by the spectators, watching Gilchrist’s batting spell bound.

In this context, it is evident that wearing a performance enhancing device (Squash ball) is prohibitive against the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’ and is analogous to an Athlete using performance enhancing drugs to win his event. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified from the World Cup 2007 and in lieu Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the World Cup 2007

Laws’ the Bat: It defines that the bat should be made solely of wood and the hand and glove be part of the bat The specification of the glove is not defined, but it is prohibitive to enclose a performance enhancing device in the glove. Tampering the glove is synonymous to the tampering of the cricket ball, thus the practice is not allowed/acceptable. Moreover, it is explicit that no outside appliance/device can be introduced into the glove; more specifically a spring loaded device as evidenced in the squash ball and is prohibitive.

In conclusion, I write with a firm hand that the ICC conduct disciplinary hearings and the 2007 World Cricket Cup re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Club and a decision that both Adam Gilchrist and the Australian Captain be banned for Life.

In the event I do not hear from you, Legal Action will be meted against the ICC.

Soliciting your assistance,

Yours sincerely,



R. George Manuelpillai
A cricketer and an enthusiast from Sri Lanka
Page 3:


CC: 1. The President – MMC – I would appreciate the views from your office, and
your actions with the ICC and the Australian Cricket Board..
2. The 16 Cricket Teams – Please be reminded that Adam Gilchrist did admit to
concealing a squash ball in his glove. What assurance is there that other
Australian Cricketers too may have used the same technique in recording big
scores in the tournament just concluded? I suggest that in the ‘Spirit of the
Cricket Game’ that all the teams that did loose their matches to the Australian
Team should take legal action individually or in unison against the ICC and/or
the Australian board, for the use of a Performance Enhancing Device, a
catapulting effect to register big scores ...............

Anonymous said...

Visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2007/04/world_cup_final_your_verdict.shtml for more interesting comments.

Anonymous said...

Australian Cricket team has a history of cheating

This is not about winning or losing it is about honesty. Anyway, there is no point of talking about honest to Australian as history proves the country is populated from prisoners (thieves from England was transported to Australia) who only knows how to cheat and cheat well

This is not new (cheating) to Australian cricket team this is the second time they have successfully done it. Remember the 1981 World Series Cup. For those Australian who cannot remember (or have no brains to recall) read the following (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underarm_bowling_incident_1981). The result was underarm balling was banned from international cricket, maybe we should ban Australian cricket team altogether from playing international cricket because they have done nothing but cheating so far


“ A controversial incident occurred in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the MCG in 1981 when Australian bowler (Trevor Chappell) rolled the final ball along the ground to avoid the possibility of it being hit for the six runs that New Zealand needed to tie the match. For a full account of this incident, see: Underarm bowling incident 1981. ”

Anonymous said...

Australian Cricket team has a history of cheating

This is not about winning or losing it is about honesty. Anyway, there is no point of talking about honest to Australian as history proves the country is populated from prisoners (thieves from England was transported to Australia) who only knows how to cheat and cheat well

This is not new (cheating) to Australian cricket team this is the second time they have successfully done it. Remember the 1981 World Series Cup. For those Australian who cannot remember (or have no brains to recall) read the following (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underarm_bowling_incident_1981 ). The result was underarm balling was banned from international cricket, maybe we should ban Australian cricket team altogether from playing international cricket because they have done nothing but cheating so far


“A controversial incident occurred in the final of the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup at the MCG in 1981 when Australian bowler (Trevor Chappell) rolled the final ball along the ground to avoid the possibility of it being hit for the six runs that New Zealand needed to tie the match. For a full account of this incident, see: Underarm bowling incident 1981.”