I just read on cricinfo that Sreesanth was fined half his match fee for the incident involving Vaughn. Sreesanth was also fined in SA after dismissing Hashim Amla. I would like to know what the laws say in terms of repeated offenses. If Sreesanth is found guilty again, does it mean he will receive a ban. I think that if a player is found guilty on 3 occasions, he should be suspended for at least 1 game. It is clear that Sreesanth has a discipline problem and what concerns me is that he has not even been in the game for that long. Did he not come to blows with Zaheer Khan in the Indian dressing room as well.

While Sreesanth is a talented bowler, does cricket really need characters like this in the game. I think not. What are your thoughts

__________________
434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

Fully deserved,probably hard done by though that he is the only player out of the two sides to be punished though as others have overstepped the mark too.

Not for one moment am I excusing Sreesanth's behaviour; in fact, he needs a solid kick in the butt and told to shut-up and get on with his business. But this shows the extent of double standards practiced within the cricketing eastablishment in England. When an English player is abusive by words or action, it is usually laughingly dismissed as 'positive aggression' on the player's part or some such nonsense by commentators and meekly accepted by the referees. But when a similar incident involves a player from the subcontinent, suddenly, there is a general tut-tutting all around. A classic example of neo-colonial hypocrisy, if ever there was one.

On the second day of this test, Sidebottom repeatedly sledged Karthik and once even used the f*** word when the batsman ducked a bouncer. Karthik refused to respond, and conveniently, so did the authorities. Then there was the exchange between Pietersen and Zaheer Khan, but that seems to have been dismissed as a non-event as well. When an English player is apparently on the wrong end, there is always a 'satisfactory' explanation forthcoming by Boycott et al that that is usually the end of the story.

This tendency is not new. Some years ago, England's golden boy 'Freddie' Flintoff, repeatedly insulted and sledged the dimunitive Indian opener S S Das without the slightest provocation. All the time, Boycott and others were laughing in the background; maybe they thought they were watching a bullfight or something.

I agree and I have been saying this for years.

As I have mentioned in one of the other threads, this issue needs to be handled with urgency.

What happens if you are at a bar and you abuse some one or someone abuses you? The same thing will happen on a cricket field.

Was the guy not warned about his behaviour during the South Africa series when he and Nel seemed to be at each other almost continually? This would indicate to me why he has been singled out of what has been some pretty stupid behaviour by a group of grown men.

I agree fully. I could not have said it any better myself. We could add many more incidents. Remember in the previous series when Edwards was fined, yet Harmison and co bowling on the match strip were not fined. Then you get some guys who still claim the ICC are run by India LOL

__________________
434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

Yes, he was and I think they should kick players with multiple offenses out of the game. I dont think that anyone will miss Nel. What makes this worse is that, like Nostromo pointed out, commentators like Boycott, Botham and co make excuses for such behaviour. If they were to come out and criticise such behaviour then maybe something could be done.

PS: Was Anderson fined for shoulder barging Morton and if so what percentage of his fee,

__________________
434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

I think we are really starting to get carried away when we start to talk of double standards (when talking specifically about one nation being unfairly treated). Most countries have been favourably and unfairly treated over the years by the ICC.

For instance England lost a test match in New Zealand becasue the lights were turned on to play in the dark to make up for time that was lost due to rain. This was against the regulations. In addition, Ganguly has had legitimate continued time wasting bans overturned for no real reason (when Inzamam had to sit out games) and India were able to cancel a test match in South AFrica because they refused to drop Sehwag when he was banned. Were they fined or sanctioned then? However, we continually hear that India are always treated differently.

Let's face it, this test match should be remembered for what is possibly the best Indian bowling performance away from home in many a year (and not fines and umpiring decisions).

To those people who believe that the TV commentators are not sufficient in their condemnation of poor behaviour by bowlers, this even handed condemnation by Jonathan Agnew may come as a relief. I'm with him: it's got to stop, wherever it comes from and whoever is doing it. The authorities need to act.

__________________
Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan