Ashes 2005 fame Marcus Trescothick reveals shortly before the release of his autobiography some seriously sensational stuff that is bound to boost the sales of his book. Check out the story here.
Of the little I’ve watched of Trescothick, I’ve been largely curious if not a fan. That he disappeared during that 2006 tour of India had me skeptic but after a repeated such incidents and rumors of a stress related condition, I got more sympathetic. So I would have gone on to buy his book, even if I didn’t know about the role Murray’s mint played in the famed Ashes victory. But now there’s more of an incentive. I’m not sure if we’ll get the book here in India on Sept 1st. Either way, I’ll be checking it out at my local Landmark.
Meanwhile on this whole ball tampering issue, while I feel there is an element of it not being fair, I’m more inclined to brush it off. But several questions remain. One of the most bothersome things is the continued preferential treatment some teams get. The ball tampering incident in the Ganguly-lead India with Dravid and with the lozenges laden spit comes to mind. Why should Trescothick go scot free when Dravid didn’t? Should we retroactively change the result, in line with the dangerous precedent of the infamous 2006 Oval Test where Pak were accused of ball tampering? Or should be we retroactively punish Trescothick or set right Dravid’s record? All of these are ridiculous propositions, but the ICC is to blame for this and some cricketing boards are crazy enough to actually ask these questions.
Another question is, just how much change can mint or lozenges induce to a cricket ball? My cricketing experiences are mostly limited to exploits in stick cricket, so I’ll let the learned folk answer this. Even if the effect is more than slightly significant, how we stop tampering through spit? Should chewing gums now be banned hours before play? Ponting is almost always chewing gum on the field. Shall we now suggest that Australia wins matches due to the spit from chewing a certain brand of chewing gum? Should cricketers take medical test to prove that they haven’t chewed gum, eaten mint, or taken dhal-chawal? Should we investigate the effects of Panner-Tikka masala lunch on a cricket ball? Should we have lie detector tests for cricketers? That’s what all this boils down. Any amendments or additions to the law on ball tampering would make it impossible to enforce and move the focus away from the game. We saw this happening in the umpire referral/review system in the recent Test series involving India in Sri Lanka.
I ask only for fair and equal treatment for all cricket playing nations. Other than that I say, case closed and move on.
Posted by vmminerva 
VM\'s Random Ramblings 