Cricket ethics - a matter of trust

Now it's not so much a question of trust, more a question of camera angles when those tricky decisions have to be made on the cricket field. I'm not sure whether this is progress but it's the way of the world.

Players like Jacques Kallis, standing in Port Elizabeth when Chris Adams had claimed a catch in the gully, now put their faith in the cameraman rather than a cricketing colleague. This marks a change, maybe not welcome but inevitable, in the way the game is played since I retired.

Let me give you an obvious example. I won a few plaudits in the Centenary Test in Melbourne in 1977 when I recalled Derek Randall to the crease, but it was standard behaviour as far as I was concerned. Nothing special. I remember the situation well: England were getting too close for comfort to their victory target with Randall on 161 and Greg Chapell was bowling his seamers. I was standing back.

The ball brushed something - I thought it was his pad - and there was a yell of 'catch it'. I dived forward to try to catch it and tumbled over. Somebody appealed; Umpire Tom Brookes gave Randall out and the next thing I know he has gone ten metres in the direction of the pavilion. Immediately I shouted 'Hey, Derek, come back here. The ball didn't carry', before adding to my team-mates 'I don't think he hit it anyway'.

I'd always been brought up to play the game that way. You don't walk, you might have a good honest 'sledge' now and again (though in my era I don't think we were any different than the players 20 years before or after - they are just more discreet now) but you don't cheat. Knowingly claiming a catch when the ball has bounced is scandalous. If that is encouraged by any coach the game suffers irreparably.

By the same token I have to admit that I have claimed a catch when the ball's hit the ground although I didn't realise that this was the case. In World Series cricket, when cameras were first used to help umpires, Barry Richards nicked one to me. The ball came out of my glove as I rolled over and then finished up back in the gloves. I appealed since I thought I had caught it. When I saw the pictures I was relieved that the umpire had given him not out. I'm convinced this is what happened when Steve Waugh claimed that infamous 'catch' in the gully to dismiss Brian Lara in the Caribbean. Waugh would not wittingly claim a bogus catch.

But usually the fielder knows and in my time the batsmen would trust the fielder's judgement. In which case Adams would have nodded in Port Elizabeth and Kallis would have walked off. But there's famous cautionary tale involving Ian Chappell in South Africa. In the 1969/70 series Chappell stood his ground when a catch was claimed. He asked the fielder 'Did you catch it?' and when he got the reply 'Yes' he marched off to the pavilion. But it had looked a dubious catch and later the South African, who will remain nameless, was heard to say 'Well, he didn't ask if I'd caught it on the first bounce'.

Now Chappell would wait for the cameras. Sometimes they confuse the issue. For example Shane Warne this summer took what I'm sure was a clean catch. But he didn't claim it categorically since he didn't want to be labelled a cheat. Then, since the camera angle was not quite right, the batsman got the benefit of the doubt and was lucky to survive.

Whatever the technology there are always going to be disputes. I'm not one of those who automatically talks of a decline in standards, though it's a bit sad that technology now takes over from a players' integrity in decision making. We have had our share of controversy here recently involving decisions against Sachin Tendulkar in the first Test. The Indian captain has responded in the right way: not whingeing in the knowledge that his time will come.

At the Academy we spend a lot of time talking about the players' attitude to umpires. The basic rule I lay down is 'Don't appeal if you don't think it's out; make it a good one if you do'. It's in the players' interest to earn the respect of the umpires. They'll appreciate that behaviour. If you appeal all the time the umpire is more likely to turn down the one that is out through frustration and human nature. If you lose your temper with the umpires, you lose control of your game and your performance suffers as a result. And I often remind them that however many mistakes the umpire makes in a game, you can be guaranteed that the players make a lot more.-Dawn- Observer Service