Cricket: Two Contrasting Tales of Justice
Muhammad Hussain
December 08, 2006
For same drug offence, Australian Shane Warne gets one-year ban while Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar walks away innocent. One wonders if 'Islamic Laws' are being applied in cricketing jurisdiction?
I have been a fanatic fan of cricket over the years. But what is happening to this fine game of sport during recent times is real worrying. The age-old adage "It's not cricket" (denoting unfair and unacceptable behavior or actions) is going to loose its shine or altogether may disappear from the dictionary soon.
Recently, the controversy over Australian umpire Darrel Hair's punishing the Pakistan team for ball-tempering in a Test Cricket match in England has done enough damage to the game. It led to an extraordinary wave of events spurred by Pakistan's vigorous protests and lobbying, leading to the reversal of the umpire's ball-tempering verdict, which is rare in the game of cricket. This much could possibly acceptable. But Pakistan also forced India and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to exclude Darrell Hair, one of the cricket's finest umpires, from the ICC Championship, the cricket's second-best tournament, held in India in October. Although this outcome brought jubilation in Pakistan and their anti-Western ally countries in Asia and Africa, most experts and commentators in the Western cricket-playing nations expressed shock and concerns that this decision is going to destroy the confidence and integrity of the umpires, who should stand supreme in handing decisions in the field of play. There is little doubt that umpires have to think thrice in giving a tough decision, especially against the Pakistan team, next time round.
However, the controversy did not stop there. Pakistan's campaign to punish Darrell Hair continued. It formed a lobby with the 3rd world cricket-playing nations of Asia and Africa (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Zimbabwe and South Africa) and voted out the great umpire out of international cricket in the ICC General meeting in Mumbai on November 13th. This happened just a week after he was reported to be the season's second-best umpire in the book of ICC [Cricinfo, 13th Nov]. In the same week, cricket's Alma Mater, 'The Wisden Cricketer', revealed that Darrell Hair was voted to be season's best umpire by a huge margin (34%) ahead of compatriot Simon Taufel (16%) [Cricinfo, 16th Nov]. When cricket is facing increasing crisis of falling standard in umpiring, Darrell Hair should be the integral part of cricket to show way for the next generation umpires. And here, a twenty-one year-long umpiring career with outstanding records behind him is not good enough to keep his job and earn a living. It easy to conceive how these events would affect the psychology of the umpires who walk to the middle of the field of play in future games. It is a great setback to this beautiful game of sport and a huge disappointment for those who care for its future.
Now we have another damaging saga of drug abuse, again involving the Pakistan players. The first-ever drug-abuse incidence in the otherwise clean game of cricket took place in 2003, when great Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was withdrawn from World Cup Team in South Africa for testing positive for diuretics. Warne then insisted on his innocence by claiming that his mother had given him pills to loose weight which he had put on while recovering from an injury. Warne was banned from playing by the Australian Cricket board for one year which was enforced, almost spelling the end of the ageing 33 year-old player's outstanding career.
Cricket's second-ever drug scandal took place in the midst of the recent ICC championship trophy in October, when Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Muhammad Asif tested positive for banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone in an internal dope test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board [Cricinfo, 16th Nov]. Both players insisted on their innocence but declined to take a repeat test of sample B. Incidentally, both players, like Warne, were recovering from injuries and such anabolic drugs help both faster healing and enhancing performance. They insisted that it may have come from food supplements they were taking. Pakistan Cricket Board banned Akhtar for 2 years while the younger Asif was let-off with a lighter one-year ban.
Despite having similar circumstances behind both scandals; Warne never protested the ban but the Pakistan players did. On 5th December, the ban on both players was overturned citing that "neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking" [Cricinfo, 5th Dec]. It is ridiculous to overturn the ban on such flimsy excuses. There is no way to prove that the players had taken the banned substance knowingly unless they be honest and truthful. Pakistan team's records have also not stood in a very good light concerning usage dishonest and illegal means on the field of play. Shoaib Akhtar in particular was caught twice doing ball-tempering and the Sky TV caught him doing something suspicious with the ball earlier this year in a game in England.
Astonishingly, this reversal of the ban came just two days after the Head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Dick Pound, in his book "Inside Doping", insisted that Cricket Australia should have banned Warne for longer than 12 months after testing positive for a diuretic in 2003 [Cricinfo, 4th Dec]. What a strange world of this cricket is! For the same offense, Warne gets banned for a year, while the Pakistan players walk away innocent and scot-free. And here, the WADA chief insists on more severe punishment for the already punished Australian player.
As events have transpired over the last few months, it seems the Pakistan team and its players are beyond any suspicion and wrong-doing. They cannot and must not be accused or punished for whatsoever reasons. According to the Sunnah, the Prophet of Islam had said, "My community can never do wrong". Allah has also revealed in the Koran: "Truly, it is the unbelievers who are the wrong-doers" [Quran 2:254]. These divine laws of Islam appear making an encroachment into the arena of jurisdictions in cricket these days.
I have been a fanatic fan of cricket over the years. But what is happening to this fine game of sport during recent times is real worrying. The age-old adage "It's not cricket" (denoting unfair and unacceptable behavior or actions) is going to loose its shine or altogether may disappear from the dictionary soon.
Recently, the controversy over Australian umpire Darrel Hair's punishing the Pakistan team for ball-tempering in a Test Cricket match in England has done enough damage to the game. It led to an extraordinary wave of events spurred by Pakistan's vigorous protests and lobbying, leading to the reversal of the umpire's ball-tempering verdict, which is rare in the game of cricket. This much could possibly acceptable. But Pakistan also forced India and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to exclude Darrell Hair, one of the cricket's finest umpires, from the ICC Championship, the cricket's second-best tournament, held in India in October. Although this outcome brought jubilation in Pakistan and their anti-Western ally countries in Asia and Africa, most experts and commentators in the Western cricket-playing nations expressed shock and concerns that this decision is going to destroy the confidence and integrity of the umpires, who should stand supreme in handing decisions in the field of play. There is little doubt that umpires have to think thrice in giving a tough decision, especially against the Pakistan team, next time round.
However, the controversy did not stop there. Pakistan's campaign to punish Darrell Hair continued. It formed a lobby with the 3rd world cricket-playing nations of Asia and Africa (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Zimbabwe and South Africa) and voted out the great umpire out of international cricket in the ICC General meeting in Mumbai on November 13th. This happened just a week after he was reported to be the season's second-best umpire in the book of ICC [Cricinfo, 13th Nov]. In the same week, cricket's Alma Mater, 'The Wisden Cricketer', revealed that Darrell Hair was voted to be season's best umpire by a huge margin (34%) ahead of compatriot Simon Taufel (16%) [Cricinfo, 16th Nov]. When cricket is facing increasing crisis of falling standard in umpiring, Darrell Hair should be the integral part of cricket to show way for the next generation umpires. And here, a twenty-one year-long umpiring career with outstanding records behind him is not good enough to keep his job and earn a living. It easy to conceive how these events would affect the psychology of the umpires who walk to the middle of the field of play in future games. It is a great setback to this beautiful game of sport and a huge disappointment for those who care for its future.
Now we have another damaging saga of drug abuse, again involving the Pakistan players. The first-ever drug-abuse incidence in the otherwise clean game of cricket took place in 2003, when great Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was withdrawn from World Cup Team in South Africa for testing positive for diuretics. Warne then insisted on his innocence by claiming that his mother had given him pills to loose weight which he had put on while recovering from an injury. Warne was banned from playing by the Australian Cricket board for one year which was enforced, almost spelling the end of the ageing 33 year-old player's outstanding career.
Cricket's second-ever drug scandal took place in the midst of the recent ICC championship trophy in October, when Pakistan fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Muhammad Asif tested positive for banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone in an internal dope test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board [Cricinfo, 16th Nov]. Both players insisted on their innocence but declined to take a repeat test of sample B. Incidentally, both players, like Warne, were recovering from injuries and such anabolic drugs help both faster healing and enhancing performance. They insisted that it may have come from food supplements they were taking. Pakistan Cricket Board banned Akhtar for 2 years while the younger Asif was let-off with a lighter one-year ban.
Despite having similar circumstances behind both scandals; Warne never protested the ban but the Pakistan players did. On 5th December, the ban on both players was overturned citing that "neither was fully aware of the substances they were taking" [Cricinfo, 5th Dec]. It is ridiculous to overturn the ban on such flimsy excuses. There is no way to prove that the players had taken the banned substance knowingly unless they be honest and truthful. Pakistan team's records have also not stood in a very good light concerning usage dishonest and illegal means on the field of play. Shoaib Akhtar in particular was caught twice doing ball-tempering and the Sky TV caught him doing something suspicious with the ball earlier this year in a game in England.
Astonishingly, this reversal of the ban came just two days after the Head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Dick Pound, in his book "Inside Doping", insisted that Cricket Australia should have banned Warne for longer than 12 months after testing positive for a diuretic in 2003 [Cricinfo, 4th Dec]. What a strange world of this cricket is! For the same offense, Warne gets banned for a year, while the Pakistan players walk away innocent and scot-free. And here, the WADA chief insists on more severe punishment for the already punished Australian player.
As events have transpired over the last few months, it seems the Pakistan team and its players are beyond any suspicion and wrong-doing. They cannot and must not be accused or punished for whatsoever reasons. According to the Sunnah, the Prophet of Islam had said, "My community can never do wrong". Allah has also revealed in the Koran: "Truly, it is the unbelievers who are the wrong-doers" [Quran 2:254]. These divine laws of Islam appear making an encroachment into the arena of jurisdictions in cricket these days.
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