Can Hillary help Hogg?

Sir Edmund Hillary, the famous explorer who died last week, would be intrigued if he knew he could be coming to the rescue of one of the Australian cricket team. Brad Hogg is staring at a possible three-Test ban if found guilty of using the term “bastards” in a racial manner in his hearing on Monday evening. The term is deeply offensive in India, but Hogg will insist he meant nothing by it, using a quote from Hillary after scaling Everest as part of his case. The Herald Sun has the full story.

Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald writes that cricket, though often portrayed as a gentleman’s game, in fact has a darker side:

It might seem a gentle pastime involving a bat and a ball, conducted along lines imposed by carefully written laws and sustained by honoured traditions, but scrape away the surface and it bears a close resemblance to a bare-knuckled brawl.

But he calls for a truce between the two teams, saying it’s time to get back to the cricket. The Australian notes another umpiring controversy in Australia at the weekend, while in The Age the Geelong vice-president says cricket can learn from the example of his AFL team. The Bangkok Post considers a wider impact, on Asian tourism to Australia.