Puntering around at Sydney

I swear by God. The volatile Indian media has (even given its old record) blown the unfortunate events in Sydney out of all sense of proportion.
Bucknor got sacked, and yes, the old menace had the bird coming for a while now. With all due respect to his umpiring career, today he's as blind as a bat and as deaf as any other such deficient animal and has otherwise done nothing to enhance my opinion of those who have traversed over 60 summers.
Harbhajan Singh who (apparently) expressed his frank opinion on about how Andrew Symonds resembles an ape(which is true!) was handed a severe ban, (where i'm sure what Harbhajan said was a jovial and friendly "tere maa ki.." which unfortunately Symonds chose to interpret as "monkey") :)
Facts taken. But as sad and eye-popping as all of this is, it doesn't quite sadden or pop the eye-balls as does the ridiculousness that surrounds the Aussie skipper, Ricky Ponting.

For those unintroduced, Ricky Ponting is a man with a distinguished career behind him. A man of some 20+ centuries, and many a half-centuries in both the forms of the game and a strong 40+ average in a career spanning over 200 matches! He's successfully masterminded two World Cup campaigns and further won one more as a mere player.
On the other hand one could enumerate the lows he's had, the most glaring ones being the loss of the Ashes, Chris Cairns remark about his mother's ability to lead the multi-talented Aussie side and of course the incessant and innumerable quips about his "arrogant" and "unsporting" showing in many a games.


So, back to the last and undiscussed controversy, Ponting has been accused, yet again, of "unsporting conduct" & the heads of many a cricketing nation are calling for his head led most ferociously by the BCCI, whose team found the shorter straw at Sydney. Of course the Indian media has made no effort to bite back or mince their words in their rather acrimonious stand on this entire affair surrounding Ponting & has called and has called for his "cap". All of this, without giving so much as a second thought to the drops of sweat that have long discoloured, but yet somehow enriched the flair and esteem of the very baggy green that is being called for.

I guess "over-exultation of happiness" is what it all comes down to. My bitch is, that if a game has been won, at the death,(although, not, as they say, "fair-and-square") one does reserve the right to be happy and pump the fist around a bit, even if it is indeed a Gentleman's game. If you are not allowed to be happy when you are absolutely on the brink of popping the champagne, then when does one express happiness? But the cricketing bodies and the media remain resolute. In cricket, there is no room for this "blatant" show of happiness. What is allowed and expected is the good old English spirit of warmth and fraternity. If you win some 16 hard fought test matches, on the trot, shattering a few well set records on the way,(and the most mentionable would be the one set by Ponting's more "noble" predecessor Steve Waugh) what you're supposed to do, is look all calm and gentlemanly and, shake the hand of the loosing party(who were quivering with anger in the wake of the most appalling umpiring decisions) & walk off without a modicum of joy.

The concept of a "Gentleman's game" fails to find reason with me. Its really stupid. There is no such nonsense, to my knowledge in any other game. And such a game that prioritizes good healthy conduct over the aggressive killer instinct fails to interest me whatsoever(which possibly explains why England have failed to win a World Cup in the game they have created). Its just NOT Cricket!