The controversy was was that the Pakistanis had been accused of tampering with the ball during Pakistan’s tour of England. Guess what i was there during the middle of it, a reporters dream. The England team claimed the Pakistan captain Inzamam-il-Haq had tampered with the ball by putting his nail into the ball making a certain change in the surface of the ball. Giving an advantage to the bowling team being Pakistan. The 2 field referees declared it illegal and announced 5 runs to England and also asking for a new ball. The Pakistan protested the decision by not coming out after tea time and once they finally agreed to exit they entered the field to see nothing but grass, no England team or Referees. The game was deemed un-continuable by the Cricket commissioner and referees. This was the first match a captain has conceded in cricket history!

So back to the story.Near the end of the Lords tour we were walking by the practice field and who else was their, The Pakistan Cricket team. They were preparing for their next match at Lords. As we are standing, looking at the team practice Inzamam-il-Haq walks by and is signing autographs i was lucky enough to get one.

The photo below is of the autograph, ticket, ball and picture of Inzamam-il-Haq

This wasnt the only thing that happened on this historical day, after Adam Gilchrist was removed by a “beautiful” diving catch by the Indian captain. The former Australian wicket keeper, and now telecaster/announcer  made a point that the webbing on the gloves was to large. The umpires were informed of this and confiscated one glove for further investigation. After the match the umpires deemed the gloves to be illegal with extra webbing. The Indian team doged a fine by them saying they had used them before but if they used them again they would be fined.

Wondering why it was historical?  It was because the great performance by  Ricky Ponting  and his 124. This was his  best score at the SCG.

 ITS VOCAB TIME!

SCG- Sydney Cricket Grounds

Clean Bowled- When the ball goes cleanly through the wickets without making contact with anything except the ground therefore making the player out

Pavilion- The area in a stadium where the players locker rooms are located

Removed- To be out

Wicket Keeper – The position played behind the wickets being bowled at. This is the only position gloves are allowed to be used in.

The video of the bowl out and celebration:

The information that i learned was provided by Cricinfo

The Indian team stayed until the judgment was made. At the end of the 5 hour closed trial the Adelaide judge charged Harbhajan Singh with a 3,000 Aussie dollar fine and charged him NOT guilty with racial vilification but obscene language. That brings the law case to a draw but after this whole month of tension between Australia and India, this case will never rest on the field.

Fri

29°C | 17°C

Sat

30°C | 17°C

Sun

34°C | 20°C

Mon

33°C | 23°C

Its looking at weather reports like these while staring out at the rain and wondering why your parents dragged you off to Vancouver. I will report back later.

Talk later wicketers!

Wed

34°C | 20°C

Thu

34°C | 19°C

Fri

30°C | 16°C

Sat

31°C | 19°C

Perfect for Cricket. This weather report was taken at 6:35 am Perth time. But as the good weather keeps the fans happy their is sure to be some more tension on the oval. My question is will this effect the quality of the cricket because Harbhajan Singh the Indian player who made the racial slur on Andrew Simons is one of India’s best players but if you look at my last blog has been suspended until 3 of India’s test have been played. He also will have a hearing with the ICC before the Melbourne Test.