Adil Najam
The news is too fresh, murky on the details, and still developing, but as Adnan Ahmed has just pointed out on the comments section of another post, Pakistan walked out of — and therefore possibly forfeited — the 4th Cricket Test against England at the Oval, in a dramatic turn of events. Then, it was announced that Pakistan will take the field… but just as the crowd begins to cheer, the umpires decide they will not come out if the Pakistan team does. Meanwhile the light keeps deteriorating. No matter how this ends, this will be a drama to remember.
More and developing details are available here. Best place to stay informed on this is CrickInfo.Com, from where the photograph above is are linked. (Updated after original posting).
i watched the saga on tv. i think pakistan lost a great chance by loosing their cool. The protest was justified, not the manner. why? because nobody lost but pakistan. Maybe the pakistani supporters will find my comment offensive but it was a mental game, if the umpire was wrong, and pakistan played in his hands, if the pakistani team was right. See, when a fast bowler abuses the batsman, he doesn’t leave the field to protest. He replies by hitting the bowler for boundry. So, i think that pakistan should have played with more determination and then take up the fight off the field. Am i right?
The interesting thing is the even BOTHAM agreed to the false accusations by Hair. I initially thought Botham might be the odd man out to defend Hair but when no evidence was provided he also had to criticize Hair.
I say BOYCOTT in protest unless ICC and Hair provide an unconditional apology
It is quite clear that this whole incident has become, as one has suspected, a matter of national frustration for Pakistani fans. Much more than just about what happened on the ground, it has become a metaphor for a much larger sense of international besiegement. And hence, despite the forfeiting of teh game, the act of defiance by the players is being lauded. See here:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article12 20616.ece
Folks, here is what today’s Dawn has to add in its top of the front page story:
What has spine got to do with ICC?
I was listening to the Radio Pakistan commentators while driving home, and one of them suggested that Duncan Fletcher visited Hair last night, and complained to him that the Pakistani team had tampered with the ball in the first innings, which resulted in a 173 run haul by England. I don’t know if its true, I just heard the commentator say that.
Looking forward to the Match Referee’s report, who happens to be a South African too, like Hair.
Yeh OOnTh kiss karwat baithay ga? Who knows?