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Australia backs ICC in India, SA row
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) condemned Indian and South African officials on Friday for challenging the International Cricket Council`s (ICC) authority to appoint independent match referees.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) condemned Indian and South African officials on Friday for challenging the International Cricket Council's (ICC) authority to appoint independent match referees.
Howard and ACB chairman Bob Merriman said they were concerned for the game's future after Indian and South African officials ignored ICC regulations by sacking Mike Denness because of the fallout over his ruling that Sachin Tendulkar was guilty of ball tampering. The ICC responded to the former England captain's unauthorised sacking by downgrading the third Test between India and South Africa, scheduled to start in Centurion later on Friday, from a Test to a first-class fixture. Howard, a self-confessed cricket lover, said the teams' disregard for the ICC's authority was a "terrible development" for the sport. "The authority of the ICC should not be challenged in this way," Howard told a Sydney radio station. "It is imperative that administrators of all games have the tenacity, the courage and the authority to stamp out behaviour that brings any game into disrepute. "It's very, very bad that this kind of thing should occur but in the end you have to accept the umpire's decision, so to speak.
Merriman said the ACB was gravely concerned by the developments.
"The playing conditions and the regulations which bind us all together clearly give certain authority to the ICC president and chief executive to appoint referees," Merriman said. "No team has got the right to object to or try to select referees...and anything that goes against those regulations is of grave concern."
Relations between the Indian and Australian cricket teams have been strained in recent years and there were reports of friction between the players during this year's test series in India, won 2-1 by the home side.
Australian captain Steve Waugh was among the first to publicly support Denness for daring to find against Tendulkar, one of the world's best players and a revered figure in his homeland.
Bureau Report
Howard and ACB chairman Bob Merriman said they were concerned for the game's future after Indian and South African officials ignored ICC regulations by sacking Mike Denness because of the fallout over his ruling that Sachin Tendulkar was guilty of ball tampering. The ICC responded to the former England captain's unauthorised sacking by downgrading the third Test between India and South Africa, scheduled to start in Centurion later on Friday, from a Test to a first-class fixture. Howard, a self-confessed cricket lover, said the teams' disregard for the ICC's authority was a "terrible development" for the sport. "The authority of the ICC should not be challenged in this way," Howard told a Sydney radio station. "It is imperative that administrators of all games have the tenacity, the courage and the authority to stamp out behaviour that brings any game into disrepute. "It's very, very bad that this kind of thing should occur but in the end you have to accept the umpire's decision, so to speak.
Merriman said the ACB was gravely concerned by the developments.
"The playing conditions and the regulations which bind us all together clearly give certain authority to the ICC president and chief executive to appoint referees," Merriman said. "No team has got the right to object to or try to select referees...and anything that goes against those regulations is of grave concern."
Relations between the Indian and Australian cricket teams have been strained in recent years and there were reports of friction between the players during this year's test series in India, won 2-1 by the home side.
Australian captain Steve Waugh was among the first to publicly support Denness for daring to find against Tendulkar, one of the world's best players and a revered figure in his homeland.
Bureau Report