The six Indian cricketers, handed down tough punishments by the International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Mike Denness, could move the South African courts and sue him for libel. This was suggested by the former England Test player Geoff Boycott and a former South African wicket-keeper Dave Richardson said in London on Tuesday.
In his characteristic blunt manner, Boycott, now a commentator with ESPN sports channel telecasting the India-South Africa Test series, said that the Indian players should seriously look at the law. The Indian and South African legal systems had taken a lot from English law, he said. If the Indian players, whose good name has been besmirched all over the world by Denness, took legal action, the ICC would have to come (to the court) to answer, he said.
Richardson, who retired from international cricket recently and who has a legal background, also said that the Indian players or the team management should look at legal options.
Whether they could do so in the short period before the Indian team's tour ended was another matter, he added. Navjot Singh Siddhu, former Indian test opener and now a commentator, said that what Dennes was saying was that Indians were cheaters.
Bureau Report