Lowering the boom on Afridi

When a repeat offender is allowed to get away with a rap on the wrists as Shahid Afridi has been for his 'ball biting' incident, the ICC itself brings the game into disrepute, says Suresh menon in his column on Dreamcricket.com.

Not since Chaplin made a gourmet meal of his shoes in Gold Rush has feasting on unexpected objects looked so hilarious on the screen. Chewing on leather in a movie is funny; chewing on leather in a cricket match with the aim of helping a fast bowler is ridiculous. The only thing more ridiculous is the ICC’s gentle rap on the wrist of the player who has been in trouble before for trying to alter the condition of the pitch illegally.

Rohit Mahajan in Outlook magazine wonders if the captain can actually go to the length of biting a cricket ball to make it swing more, what may the team do if they get an opportunity to do it surreptitiously?

It was surely the daftest, most comical thing ever done on a cricket field – and probably the second most infamous bite in the history of sport after Mike Tyson’s attack on Evander Holyfield in 1997...daft though this action is, it can’t be condoned because of that reason – that it was so incredibly stupid. Stupidity can’t justify crime.