It is not since the "Bodyline", scandal of the the first third of the twentieth century that cricket has hit such big headlines in this country.(not counting last years Ashes fever) For anyone who does not follow the game, Pakistan in a match against England were fined five points for altering the condition of the ball during a test match, and as a result, they failed to finish the days play, and the match that they were pretty much obviously going to win, was forfeited to the opposition.
Firstly, I saw the condition of the ball, as close as anyone else did, and in my opinion the scratches on it could have been caused by the hitting of the fence and guttering with it by the England team, and not by finger-nail picking by the fielding side.
Not guilty I feel.
Secondly, the umpire in question, has had problems with his understanding of the Pakistan team members before and should not have been on the gig.
But , I havent seen anyone bring this up, in all the news that I have seen and read about the incident.
I remember clearly in the last cricket World Cup, the Pakistan captain being taken out of the game, for deliberatly fast bowling the ball directly at a batsmans head, this quite clearly is "not cricket", and has unfortunately appeared to have ear-marked the team for trouble.
It is becoming a controversial game again, but hey!It`s entertainment, and sadly the story of "the ball", will increase the viewing.
And for the record, this was one of the most boring matches I had ever seen until the bundle kicked off.