The Bollyline fall-out continues

With the New Zealand tour still a short way off, the English press have focussed their efforts on the fracas in Australia that is being dubbed Bollyline. Paul Kelso in The Guardian considers the long-term impact the situation could have on the incoming ICC president, David Morgan.

During his often stormy four-year tenure as chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, David Morgan earned a reputation as a conciliator. In the wake of the rancorous events in Sydney this week it could be precisely the quality the Welshman needs as he prepares to step into his new role as president of the International Cricket Council.

Simon Briggs, in the Daily Telegraph, agrees and wonders if now is the right time for Harbhajan Singh’s hearing to be held while in The Independent, James Lawton is dismayed by what he sees as money talking.

If the International Cricket Council had placed Steve Bucknor's head on a silver platter, put an apple in his mouth, and made a formal presentation to the chief mogul of rupee-laden Indian cricket, Sharad Pawar, they would have only been underlining a dispiriting point. It is that however strenuously principle still attempts to walk in cricket, it is money that talks, relentlessly and without shame.

In The Times, Shane Warne puts the controversy aside and focuses instead on the actual cricket played. He also reconfirms that he will be playing for Hampshire again in 2009.