Following the fallout from the Sydney test, I’ve reading all the opinions, facts, threats and allegations before wanting to give my own. There is more to unfold from this story you feel and to give a knee-jerk reaction would have been wrong. No one seems to be thinking about the long-term effects “Bollyline” will have.

Then I came across Jonathan Agnew’s article on the BBC website and it is the one closest to the mark. Whilst I do like Aggers’s radio commentary I often find his match reports full of benign platitudes. This was a pleasant surprise.

He quite rightly lays blame at the feet of both sets of players. He is, I think, excessively vindictive towards Australia, and I don’t agree that it solely stems from their side but there is a large dollop of truth thrown in with what he says about Australian cricket. Read the rest of this entry »

The SCG Test 2007 will be remembered for many reasons. Some moments of magic and at the end of five enthralling days, one over of madness which ultimately cost India the draw they deserved.

The innings of Laxman and Tendulkar will live long in the memory. Likewise the centuries of Symonds, Hayden and Hussey. Bowlers fought hard to keep pace on a pitch which remained favourable to batting throughout, but those who stuck to their task got their rewards.

Unfortunately though, and they are becoming ever recurrent themes within cricket debating circles, umpires mistakes and player behaviour are the main topics of conversation following the test.

Steve Bucknor made two painfully poor calls against India, and the Australians are (yet again) being accused of sharp practice, and trying to influence the umpires decisions. The message boards and forums are inevitably awash with aggrieved Indian supporters.

Every cricketer knows that some days the decisions go your way and some days they don’t. Players are quick to point this out when decisions are in their favour, and those that go against live longer in the memory.

It is a truism that over 5 days, if a team has the desire and skill to match the opposition then 2 decisions should not decide an entire test match. I for one am becoming sick of supporters from all nations blaming umpiring decisions. Subsequent effigy burning, suggestions of racism and calls for the boycotting of some ICC elected umpires just takes to the game to levels of mass depravity which soils the name of cricket.

I am personally against excessive use of technology for many reasons. It undermines the men out in the middle, who it has been shown get the large majority of very tough decisions spot on. Also in an era where tests struggle to go to the fifth day very often, having every decision scrutinised would slow it down, but also paradoxically shorten games, as batsman find they get many decisions given against them, where previously they would have been given the benefit of the doubt. The batsman’s union will be up in arms when they see their averages dropping rapidly.

Unfortunately I think the game has reached a stage where idealism and sentimentality have to be laid to one side, and the door opened to technology, but only if everyone is 100% agreed with it’s reliability. If it is the only means that a touch of graciousness in victory and defeat can be restored then so be it.

As for sharp practice and honesty - that left sport when money arrived and winning became all important. India should be more aware of their effects than any other nation.

Australia do push the limits of laws to the limits, despite their holier-than-thou interview spiel, but every professional team in the world does at one point or another. If your the best side in the world, and your steamrolling all before you, people are just more likely to feel a heightened sense of aggrievment.

Evolution is a basic necessity for long term success. In any walk of life, gentle introspection and reinvention are the keys to longevity. One trick ponies fall lame and and those who burn instantly bright are prone to burning out. True pioneers become legends.

Whilst Sachin Tendulkar’s batting is based on the simplest of principles - balance, economy of movement, and a freakishly mathmatical eye - it is his hunger to take his greatness to unparalleled heights in service of his country and his billion disciples which sets him apart. Last year was his on-field nadir. Many others would have allowed the light to fizzle out, but anyone who doubted the little master’s hunger could have only stood humbled and in awe as Tendulkar reached his 39th test hundred, and reached for the Sydney skies above as though it was his first. An appreciative crowd, regardless of allegiance rose in deepest appreciation for this phlegmatic and altruistic cricketer.

The essence of any sporting great cannot be understood unless the journey to greatness is qualified. Sachin was marked for greatness, but talent alone doesn’t fulfill destiny. It is not just the statistics which make Tendulkar the legend.

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