Even Geoffrey gets it!

Hello and welcome back to my blog

Readers last time may have wondered if I was turning my blog into a political ranting machine but I assure you that is not my intention. My statements about the tour of Zimbabwe were necessary in my mind to prove to myself, and others, that I was not simply a fan of cricket for cricket's own sake, but a fan of cricket as a sport within a modern world of human rights and democracy. I will not stand and listen to people say that politics has nothing to do with sport - easy to say, sir, when you enjoy the right to participate in either or both at your leisure - I care that many millions of people do not have that security and I will not be spoken to in a tone of voice that is happy to ignore that fact. Right enough of that for now, this week I will vent a different frustration; namely the ICC decision to return the use of the Umpire Review System to a matter of mutual agreement by cricket boards before each series.

A few 'errors', that seem to have proven once and for all to the Indian cricket establishment that the review system is flawed, appeared in England and Sri Lanka recently. The ICC (or is that the 'BCCI World Cricket Division' now?) wasted no time in reversing, what I and many others saw as a bold and crucial decision to moving the game forward. The ICC and its (bullied) members have created a precedent that will likely haunt the game for seasons to come and most certainly undermine any test championship that emerges. By back tracking on this point for the sole reason of 'a few errors' gives a never-ending-excuse to the forces of conservative Indian cricket that seek to profit in this life and stagnate the game for ever after. When will the technology be error-free enough for these people? Never, that is the point! It can't be, almost by definition technology cannot be error free in this kind of situation (where it requires human installation/operation and analysis). By being tricked into thinking that the review system is about getting every decision correct, ICC members and hoodwinked fans have missed the point entirely and done a great deal of damage to the credibility of the sport.

As Geoffrey Boycott explained in his cricinfo audio show on September 15th this year, technology and the review system are designed to remove the worst decisions that umpires would make occasionally from the game. The goal was never to reach perfection but to release umpires from the humiliation and shame of poor decisions and save players from getting out to them. This is such a simple concept that even old Boycott gets it. Admittedly Boycott has actually been right on this point for many years and to ignore his unwavering advocacy for the use of technology is not my intention - I am merely point out that somebody of his age and tradition can understand and embrace the review system. It is that simple

Much has been made of Hot Spot's failure to pick up certain edges, particularly in hot conditions but this doesn't worry me as much as if it were showing edges that did not occur. If this tool works most of the time it is a bonus, if it doesn't then you use a better tool. Boycott points out that the third umpire actually makes use of the stump microphone more than anything else, they can turn the volume up more than the TV commentators do and it provides a great indication of any sounds omitted when the ball passes the bat or pad. Hawk-eye/Eagle-eye does have very small limitations which are known and have been largely accounted for within the rules of the review system - the commentators have explained this point so many times I begin to wonder if anyone at the BCCI actually watches cricket anymore or do mountains of cash shield the television from view...

I realise I strike a slightly exasperated, even cynical tone with all of this but that is what the public is reduced to by one of cricket's worse flip-flops in my opinion. I would add just one more thing here really: it seems ironic to me that the very people who are encouraging (and no doubt benefiting from) the dramatic increase in the earning power of the modern cricketer (through the IPL etc) are robbing themselves of a key component to that transformation. If technology is unavailable to prevent bad decisions then how is the new 'professionalism' of the sport supposed to encourage anything but derisive laughter?

Well that's it from here and I hope you join me again

It's good bye for now

A black beginning to the Blackcaps summer: how cricket seems content to ignore human rights abuses

Hello and welcome back to my blog

I hope readers are enjoying the first two instalments of my cricket discussion with my friend (see my previous post). However, realising that hidden among the partying in New Zealand at the moment - a celebration of rugby and deservedly so - is a tour of Zimbabwe by the national cricket team; my mood becomes soured. I will get right down to it: did I miss the memo? Was I asleep the day that democracy blossomed in Zimbabwe? Was I on holiday when human rights abuses ceased and better yet, those who were responsible for their absence were held as such? At what point did it become OK for cricket teams to tour this sad country?

Bangladesh and Pakistan recently toured there and while the former was probably happy to face opposition at their level and the latter was happy to face opposition at all (and certainly opposition that made them look good - on and off the field you might say) forgive me for appearing slightly snobbish and perhaps slightly racist, but why is New Zealand touring there? Why is it not talked about that Chris Harris is currently coaching in that land which the world seems to have forgotten? How dare we legitimise the power 'sharing' agreement that has barely blunted the atrocities inflicted on its people. Further still, what is this loose babble from OUR Government about allowing the Zimbabwe team to tour here, to provide them with Visas in 2012? With the World Cup currently playing in New Zealand, surely there must be a few people left who recall what the 1981 Springbok tour was about?

Just because there isn't nightly footage of people being evicted from their homes or intimidated at gunpoint doesn't mean it isn't still happening. This from the Amnesty International Report this year:

"...Police continued to arbitrarily arrest and detain human rights defenders and journalists undertaking legitimate human rights work. There was some loosening of restrictions on the media and Parliament debated a bill to reform the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people faced persecution. The victims of the 2005 forced evictions continued to live in deplorable conditions with some being targeted for eviction or facing the threat of eviction..."

The Black Caps were one of the last teams to tour Zimbabwe before they were banned from cricket and before that 2005 tour there was outrage in this country that such a thing was taking place. Where is this outrage now? The answer to that question most likely lies in the fact that this affair will go completely unnoticed until the Rugby World Cu; has concluded; curious timing by New Zealand Cricket to say the least. As in the past, the fault lies with the ICC here because their Tours Programme requires us to play there and should we back out without due cause (by their standards not ours) a heavy fine is the reward for speaking against human rights abuse it seems.

I find myself torn as to how I wish to follow this tour. The Black Cap fan wishes to see our players gain some useful experience and improve their skills ahead of a long and difficult summer (playing in Australia and at home against South Africa) – and Zimbabwe should provide this if their recent form and talent is anything to go by. The human being asks, at what cost to our image and to the sport’s image. There is also the question of equivalence between what is happening in Zimbabwe and other nations. Is it consistent to focus on the appalling conditions in one country and forget that some of the other member nations in the ICC aren’t havens of human rights either? Pakistan is essentially a military dictatorship, South Africa is still not free of its apartheid hangover, Australia’s treatment of indigenous people has only improved in recent years and Sri Lankan cricket (let alone its parliament) is so mired in corruption I don’t want to even think how bad Bangladesh must be.

Between 2005 and now, New Zealand refused to tour Zimbabwe because conditions would have put the players in danger in terms of their physical health. Well the current tour poses similar dangers for our reputation and moral high ground but that doesn't appear to matter; gentleman's game indeed - an ironic statement for many years but rarely does that irony lack humour as it does in this case. As such I hear by announce my boycott of this tour from this point onwards and refuse to watch any of the coverage (I am likely to view the scorecards at one point or another) and I urge you, humble reader, to do the same

Well that’s it from here and I hope you join me again

It’s good bye for now