The role of the ICC match referee has come into sharp focus of late
thanks chiefly to the misbehaviour of the players. This kind of
misbehaviour can constitute bad language, clashes on the field or
baseless charges made by members of one team against the other. And
Cammie Smith, the former West Indian opening batsmen of the sixties
and now match referee, had his hands full while receiving complaints
from Pakistan team members against some Indian players following
incidents during the Carlton & United Series game between the two
countries at Adelaide on Tuesday, which was won by India by 48 runs.
The charges made by Pakistan were that Venkatesh Prasad called Azhar
Mahmood names, that Prasad swore at Yousuf Youhana, that Abdur Razzaq
saw Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar tampering with the ball and that
Debasish Mohanty was deliberately standing outside the 30 yard
fielding circle, contrary to match conditions.
Cammie Smith dismissed the first two for lack of proper evidence. As
regards the ball tampering charge, umpires Darrel Hair and Stephen
Davis told Smith that they had no problems with the condition of the
ball whereupon Cammie Smith dismissed the charge as ``frivolous and
without foundation''. As for Mohanty, the player was warned to be more
careful in future.
But the dismissal of the Pakistani allegations by the ICC match
referee was not the end of the matter. The Indians were quite upset by
the charges and coach Kapil Dev gave vent to his feelings. ``I am
shocked. We have never tampered with the ball and to accuse a guy like
Tendulkar of doing it is absolutely ridiculous. It just shows to what
extent teams will go to find excuses for their defeat,'' the former
Indian captain said.
Kapil Dev said that the match referee might have dismissed the
allegations, ``but why make such charges in the first place? What was
the need for it? Maybe they wanted to upset Prasad and Tendulkar.''
Not unexpectedly, Pakistan captain Wasim Akram declined to
comment. ``Whatever we had to say we have told the match
referee. There is nothing more to add.''
One is sure the last has not been heard on the matter. Moreover the
teams are meeting again in a Cartlon & United Series game at Perth on
Friday and there is bound to be some tension under the
circumstances. Also, the issue brings to the surface a potentially
important aspect in that losing teams in future may make use of the
relevant rules in the ICC handbook to throw all sorts of charges
against the winners.