The Hindu : Sport : Let cricket be a contest, not charity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 18, 2006

Sport

Sport

Let cricket be a contest, not charity

Shoaib Akhtar has been blatantly throwing, in recent weeks

PETER ROEBUCK

Shoaib Akhtar has pushed the limits of cricketing engagement beyond breaking point. Cricket is a struggle for supremacy between a bloke armed with a hunk of non-graphite wood and another armed with a lump of leather. No quarter is asked or given as the combatants view for victory. Seldom has the contest between the immovable object and the irresistible force been as compelling as it is at the height of battle on a cricket field.

Over the years the nature of the struggle has changed as underarmers were replaced by roundarmers and eventually overarmers, a style that has defied easy description. Nowadays the intrusion of science and law has forced the rulers of the game to define the difference between a throw and a bowl. No one is too happy with the result but no one is too happy with the United Nations either, but anarchy is the alternative.

Naturally both sides have used every trick in the book, and several grabbed from thin air, in an attempt to improve their chances of victory. Both parties, though, have accepted an unwritten code of conduct without which the game is not worth playing. Breaches are regarded as insults. Many fierce confrontations have taken place yet rarely do antagonists stoop to low blows.

The dreadful beamer

On two counts, Shoaib has ignored these parameters. His beamer to Dhoni, delivered from around the wicket and with intent, was a dreadful delivery. Doubtless it was partly a protest at the feather beds prepared for the first two Tests. It was also an attempt to cause grievous bodily harm to an adversary. Obviously fast bowlers are always trying to hurt batsmen. They send down umpteen bumpers directed at their skulls. Every batsman worth knows that is part of the game. Beamers are another matter. They are lethal.

Not the least disturbing aspect of Shoaib's contemptible delivery was the silence that followed. Far from provoking an outcry, the ball created the merest whimper. Shoaib should have been banned from the next Test. Barbados took a stronger line with Tino Best when he hurled down a beam ball. He was suspended. Some think he will not tread these boards again.

Shoaib's other excess lies with his deteriorating action. Throwing has always presented the game with difficulties. Currently bowlers are given some leeway. Remedial stages have been introduced to give transgressors a chance to sort themselves out. Most attention has been paid to the doosra, which is a back chuck, a notion likely to provoke amusement in baseball triangles.

Is law an ass?

In recent weeks, Shoaib has been blatantly throwing. Judging from the footage, he has been dramatically straightening the elbow. However, apologists say Shoaib is not bound by the 15 per cent allowance because he is covered by an exception protecting freakish athletes.

Shoaib is an unusual case. He can bend his elbow backwards so that it seems to be made of rubber. If the law allows him to ignore the limits then it is an ass. No earthly reason can be found for to applying one law for ordinary humans and another for the double-jointed. Cricket is not a charity but a contest. Moreover spectators are not fools, save those blinded by the curse of nationalism. Cricket cannot tell them a man is legitimate who clearly belongs to a pitcher's mound.

Without delay Shoaib must be treated the same as other bowlers. He must be governed by the same rules as everyone else. Beamers are scorned because they are unacceptably dangerous. The same applies to throws sent down by a frustrated and unusually blessed fast bowler.

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