Smith displaced Tendulkar for the top spot in the ICC ODI Batsman rankings. Ponting, M Yousuf and Hayden round up the top 5. The age old saying of nothing beats experience is demonstrated in the ODI batsman rankings.

Vettori is on top of the ODI rankings for bowlers with Bracken, Bond, Vaas and Mills completing the top 5. 3 of the top 5 ODI ranked bowlers are Kiwis.

Australia and New Zealand are definitely dominating the ICC ODI rankings. The rankings are definitely a good way of determining current form - though I would like to see some revisions to the rankings. This will have to be a later post when I have constructed exactly what I would like to see changed :-)

I will leave by saying that ICC should also publish their ICC ODI Umpire Rankings! :-)

Racism is “prejudice coupled with power” – Ernest Cashmore

“A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person”
- the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 1999: recommendation 12

As the events of the Sydney test unfolded and the now the aftermath boils over, I have been thinking about 3 main themes...Firstly, poor umpiring: I truly believe that Bucknor is well past his prime and he should retire from the game. He should say that he is sorry for making some crucial mistakes and that should be the end of that. Indian supporters will tell you that he has a history of poor decisions against India. Secondly, sportsmanship and the integrity of the players themselves is also a very serious issue that I will address in a separate post. Finally, the most serious and interesting issue is the one of a racist taunt made by Harbhajan which I will address in this post.

Racism is racism, whether it occurs on the street, in an institutionalized form or on the sports field. There are some who argue that a person or persons guilty of racism are only reflective of the larger society they are part of. That may be a sweeping generalization, because you cant judge a whole society or nation by the actions of certain individuals. What is clear, or should be clear, is that racism in any shape or form should be called out, penalized and addressed. In light of the Harbhajan incident, further thought is required before we reach any conclusions

I started off by "deconstructing" what a racist incident exactly is. Without delving into dry literary theory, the best way to describe "deconstruction" is a way of analyzing the meaning given to words by Western writers, texts and readers. Simply put the semantics of language are defined by those more powerful than others. Western, English speaking society has a patriarchal, male dominated history, which is why you see words like "man", "mankind" being used to represent a collection of both sexes.

In the context of racism in the Sydney game, Harbhajan is accused of calling Symonds a "monkey". There is no doubt that this word has racist connotations in the Western world. In fact it is pretty ironic to note that the English used this word for others in a way that is now considered racist.

Until a hundred years ago Irish Catholics were discriminated against by white protestants in the UK and USA. Charles Kingsley a prominent English novelist went to the extreme of calling the Irish Catholics “white chimpanzees”. This is an excerpt from one of his letters to his wife on a visit to Ireland - the overtly racist tone is chilling:

"But I am haunted by the human chimpanzees I saw along that hundred miles of horrible country. I don't believe they are our fault. I believe there are not only many of them than of old, but they are happier, better, more comfortably fed and lodged under our rule than they ever were. But to see white chimpanzees is dreadful; if they were black, one would not feel it so much, but their skins, except where tanned by exposure, are as white as ours.

Moving to more recent times, I found an interesting example of the use of the word “monkey” in Australia, that sparked a racist outcry. An Aussie rules footballer for the Brisbane Lions, Jason Akermanis described his radio show’s producers as “monkeys” in 2005. This sparked a large outcry from Aboriginal activists as well as the general public, resulting in the cancellation of the show.

There is no doubt in my mind that monkey can be a racist term – it also has a history of use in a racist context in America, “being used by whites to describe blacks, by US blacks to describe whites or West Indians, and by Americans generally to describe Japanese or Chinese”. Also during the recent tour to India by Australia there were widespread allegations of sections of the crowd subjecting Symond's to “monkey” taunts.

But for Indians and even Pakistanis a monkey is just an innocent taunt. Being called a donkey, an owl or a monkey is common place and definitely a step down from the many colorful words that involve family members. I cant speak for Harbhajan, but there is a possibility that coming from where he does, he called Symonds a monkey without understanding the implications. But then you can counter argue by saying none of the other Australian players have come up with similar accusations so why was only Symonds complaining? Also, none of the Indians have denied that Harbhajan used the monkey taunt, the chief argument is that there is no evidence to prove that it was used.

Another way to look at it is that Indians are relatively new to the art of sledging. The Australians are veterans and the chief protagonists of the art of sledging. They know better how to stretch the limits without crossing the boundaries

Being racist and making racist taunts - are they in separable? Can someone not be racist but just be making racist taunts as part of gamesmanship? I dont think so... racist taunts are not justified in any circumstances? But then what is kosher and what is not? Is it ok for Indians to be called "bastards"? That is what Hogg is accused of doing - and if did use it, did he know that it is a very offensive word in the sub-continent.

In the end I leave it to you to make your own judgments. I did find it interesting that during Australia's recent tour of India the captains came to an agreement where the word "monkey" was off limit during sledging. Did India present a similar list of off limit words? Racism is after all "prejudice coupled with power". I am left wondering whether the most powerful team in the world gets to define what is racist and what is not... I hope that this is not the case

Here is a little something for Ricky Ponting to think about:

For when the one great scorer comes

To write against your name,

He writes not how you won or lost

But how you played the game

(Rice, Grantland, “Plumnus Football”)

I had been thinking that its been ages since I've blogged but when I sat down to post I realised it had only been 6 days, which isn't that long a time but considering all that has gone down in the cricketing world over the last week, it does seem like ages.

I can't speak for the other writers on wellpitched, but for me December has been a very busy month with training programs, conferences, national day holidays, weddings back home in Karachi, and Eid madness here in Abu Dhabi. And it gets busier with my planned new year's trip to Thailand!

That was my schedule. Moving on to cricket, the last week to 10 days saw the Aussies regain the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, the Windies bowl the Proteas out for 54 in a 13-13 game, Dravid opening for the Indians against Victoria, the English get bowled out for 81 and 'save' the last test against the Lankans, and the Windies lose their tour match inside 3 days to South Africa A.

All that in a week? There was more!

Ponting got 2 centuries in the 2 ODIs that produced a result against the Kiwis. He now sits on 25 ODI centuries putting him in 2nd place, equal with Jayasuriya and behind Sachin.

Jayawardene got his double 100 that he missed in the 2nd test. Along with King Sanga he has also had an amazing run with the bat posting 5 centuries in his last 8 tests, with a 195 and 213* in the last 2.

King Sanga's reign was short lived as he moved down to 3rd in the test ratings behind Ponting and Kallis.

Dale Steyn produced one of the finest displays of fast bowling I've seen since Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. Even though it was only a 20-20 reduced to a 13-13 and the Proteas were defending 54, the 4 beauties that he produced in his first 12 deliveries were a treat to watch!

India's only tour game before the 1st test against the Aussies was washed out but the little cricket that took place showed what India's think tank has in store. Dravid walked out to open with Jaffer and Laxman batted at 3. There was no Karthik and Yuvraj was slated at 6. I believe this is the batting line up that India should walk out with on the 26th.

There has been plenty of debate about whether Dravid should open or not, whether Sehwag should play or not and so on. I think its clear to everyone that Yuvraj HAS to play and the only way that is possible is if Dravid opens. With the kind of form Jaffer is in, he is bound to open thus Sehwag will be warming the bench.

Even though Laxman walked out at 3 against Victoria, I think it should be Ganguly batting at that position given his current form. Recently in an interview Ganguly pointed out that he's missed out on a number of 100s cause of batting at 5 or 6 in tests. Now he has a chance of batting at 3 and the Indian management should give him that opportunity and he should grab it with both hands.

I'm looking forward to the test series, which has the potential to produce 4 of the most nerve wrecking matches. I'm rueing the fact that I'll be missing the first 2 tests cause of my new year's trip, but its Thailand, I can't be complaining. I hope they follow cricket in Koh Samui. Do they?

India's bowling is the weakness and I don't see Kumble & Co. picking up 20 Aussie wickets nor do I see Australia doing the same without Warne & McGrath. High scoring draws? If India's batting line up lives up to its potential that might just be the case cause you can guarantee that Hayden, Jacques, Ponting, Clarke, and Hussey will be pounding 100s throughout the series.

1-0 to Australia is my prediction. Your bets?

Yesterday, Sangakkara played an innings of sheer brilliance... I wasnt able to watch it, (here is a frank description of the day's happenings by our friend Uncle J Rod) but any man who plays with the belief that his side can reach 500+ in the 4th innings of a test match and that he can lead them to it deserves accolades. Most teams would have started out trying to draw the game, because that is also an honorable outcome against the mighty Australians. To all Sri Lankan's, there is glory in defeat - you should hold your head high because of the way you lost the game.



An now on to the main talking point of the game - the fact that Sangakkara's brilliant innings was curtailed by a very poor decision. Umpires will make mistakes, so will players (who initiate horrendous appeals in the first place). I respect Koertzen for apologizing to Sangakkara after the game. But the fact is that such decisions can be reduced if not eliminated. My proposal is that each team should get 2 chances to ask for a review per session. I foresee the batting team initiating most of these requests, but I can also see the bowling team request for the review (for example if a player gets out on a no ball or an appeal is not referred to the third umpire). here is how it would work...

If the ref makes a decision which one team doesn't like:

1. The coach of the team can ask for a review only until the next ball is bowled. A review can only be requested for the last ball bowled.
2. If the team requesting the review is proven correct, then they maintain their review, otherwise they lose a review for that session
3. Each team gets 2 reviews per session
4. Reviews can not be requested for lbw decisions
5. If there is insufficient data (for example bad camera angle, inconclusive frame sequence etc) then the ruling on the field stands.
6. There should be standard camera angles and positions so the same evidence/footage is available on all test match venues

This review system works pretty well in NFL and has also been introduced in ATP Tennis games. Surprise, surprise, it works! Its not perfect, because technology has its limitations, but it does work.

As for Mr Ponting and his demand for system for fairness and that people on the field judge whether they caught the ball cleanly or not. I believe that's a load of crap. Lets use technology when it is available so there are no "what ifs" at the end of the day... so that Sangakkara's leave with their head high with the belief that they did everything they could without unnecessary intervention.

Sri Lanka will be happy to be getting back some of their stars for the 2nd test match versus Australia. Sangakkara is slated to make a comeback if he is fit and he will definitely bolster the visiting side's batting which struggled in the first test match against Australia.

On the bowling side Sri Lanka is hoping to have the fiery Malinga back in the line up. The rumors are that Vaas will be dropped if Malinga makes it back to the line up. I would think they should drop Fernando and keep Vaas. Vaas is an extremely experienced campaigner and especially on an Australia tour that counts for a lot.

Ponting and the Aussies will be looking to win their 14th win in a row. This should be a closer match, but until somebody can prove otherwise, the Aussies are just in a class of their own. And 20/20 does not count as it is not main stream (at least not yet).