Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Not bad, it only took until the first day of the first Test match against Pakistan to ignite the controversy fuse. This time Sky pundit Bob Willis questioned the legality of the bowling action of Pakistan’s off-spinner Saeed Ajmal when he bowls the ‘doosra’, the delivery an off-spinner turns like a leg-break.

“The off-spinner is fairly orthodox,” said Willis, the former England captain. “The delivery that I have a problem with is the doosra. The ICC have accommodated this delivery - they changed the rules to allow these bowlers to bend their elbow 15 degrees, which is what makes it so difficult for the batsmen.”

Willis even questioned why Ajmal was wearing a long-sleeved shirt on the first day. “Now why do all these bowlers bowl with their sleeves buttoned round their wrist?” he said. “Why aren’t they wearing short-sleeved shirts? Why aren’t they wearing vests like Australian Rules Football? We can see their arms. The answer is clear isn’t it, they are bending their elbow.”

Ajmal was reported to the ICC in 2009 after the umpires during a one-day international against Australia raised doubts over his action. Ajmal’s action was approved later that year by the ICC’s experts, who declared his arm does not kink more than the 15 degrees allowed.

In my Tom Smith’s Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, Law 24.3 clearly states what a fair delivery is; Ajmal’s delivery looks fair to me. Somehow I think with two umpires on the pitch, a third (TV) umpire and a match referee (plus even a reserve umpire), if anything was untoward they would have spoken about it and take any action deemed necessary.

This was a shame for Ajmal, as he completely bamboozled the English batsmen with his doosra in the first innings, claiming seven English wickets and virtually making the game a one sided contested just on the first day.

Pakistan went on to win in just three days. Ajmal finished with ten wickets for the match and picked up the Man-of-the-Match award. A bit of an embarrassment for the number one Test team in the world. I did predict in one of my previous blog’s that England would lose the first Test, I also predicted that they would win the series 2-1, but somehow a massive improvement is needed and that prediction could go all wrong.

Also, in last week’s blog I said that Ajmal was the danger man, but it was more about his new delivery, the ‘teesra’. It looks as if England did take their eye off the ball waiting for this new delivery and forgetting things like the doosra.

So controversy strikes between these two sides, admittedly the two teams were unaware of what was being said at the time, it was only someone’s opinion, sadly it made all the headlines for the wrong reasons. Plus, it seems, that England are being very careful in what they are saying to the press, clearly keeping things low key.  

Anyway, here’s my list of great controversial moments which has happened between England and Pakistan:

1.     Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana (1987). “One rule for one,” I believe that was the quote. This finger-wagging incident at the Pakistani umpire, Shakoor Rana, caused an international incident. Gatting moved a fielder during the bowler's run-up, Rana called Gatting a "****ing cheating ****", a slur Gatting returned with interest. Rana refused to continue until he received a formal apology. I believe the tour was nearly called off as a result.

2.     Inzamam, ball-tampering and a walk-off protest (2006). Umpire Darrell Hair punished Pakistan for ball-tampering and they refused to reappear after tea. The match had to be forfeited - the first in 1,814 Tests and 129 years. An ongoing row ensued, which resulted in Hair being banned from umpiring.

3.     Afridi dancing on a length (2005). A gas canister exploded in a soft-drinks machine, everybody’s attention was elsewhere and Shahid Afridi decided to practice his dance moves on a good length. England were furious and, when replays showed the Pakistan all-rounder had ‘Moonwalked’ on the wicket he was banned for one Test and two ODIs.

4.     Jonathan Trott of Wahab Riaz (2010). These two had to be separated after a very heated exchange as the teams practiced before a one-day international at Lord's. The pair were eventually pulled apart by the former England captain and now batting coach, Graham Gooch.

Lastly, my favourite:

5.     Ian Botham's mother-in-law quip (1983). Botham said that Pakistan was "the kind of place to send your mother-in-law for a month, all expenses paid". He was forced to apologise. Eight years later, in the World Cup final, Botham was dismissed for nought, Sohail asked: "Who's coming in next? Your mother-in-law?"

These are just five and there are loads more and not one mention of match fixing in sight! For me, the ‘elephant in the room’ is that all incidents always involve Pakistan. I suppose they do push the laws to the absolute limit.

In one of my supplements last summer I mentioned about an incident which happened at Bearsted Cricket Club in Kent, where one neighbour’s pitch invasion lead to her arrest. She marched on to the pitch in a protest about stray balls potentially landing in her garden. Solicitors letters, threat of legal action, possible closure and the parish council getting involved. Things are not getting any easier for the club, especially one of the suggestions is to tell batsmen not to hit lofted shots!

The captain of Bearsted, Andrew Dampier was quoted in saying: “At the end of the day we’re playing bloody cricket, we’re not sacrificing people on the green.” But there is still a threat of legal action and the costs for the cricket club, which, as we know here in Over Stowey, village clubs run on a tight budget and there is no end in sight for poor Bearsted, with the threat of closure still lingering over them. I know my opinion reflect those of a lot of people I have spoken to. Didn’t she know there was a cricket club right next to the house you was going to buy, and there is a threat of cricket being played at the cricket club!

Another club, Lymington CC in Hampshire, are in consultation with the town council about the future of cricket being played at their ground, due to health and safety, as there is a risk to the nearby tennis players being hit by sixes.

The council wanted to move the club to another ground, but the club said they will fight that move through the courts. The club have been at their ground for 175 years, so very much steeped in history. “If the health and safety concerns had gone through, the ramifications for hundreds of ground sharing sports clubs would have been colossal,” Peter Tapper, club chairman and secretary has been quoted in saying.

These two clubs both have an impressive Facebook campaign to keep cricket being played at their grounds, as the benefits to the local community are immense as we know here at Over Stowey. I would encourage everyone to have a look and join both these campaigns. Click on the links below to join:

Bearsted Cricket Club

Lymington Cricket Club

Finally, had my first weigh-in early today, weighed in at 16st 2lb, have already lost 6lb’s in just under two weeks, so on track!

Ok, 10.57, time for a diet cider!