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First and foremost, someone in the Australian Cricket camp needs to deliver an ultimatum to the Indian Cricket Team - either they give an assurance now that the rest of the Tour will go ahead, irrespective of administrative or disciplinary decisions, or they go home immediately. Whilst the Australian team did instigate the complaint against Harbhajan, what happened after that is not their responsibility, nor is it fair to punish Australian fans by threatening to cancel the tour.

If India refuse to provide such an assurance, cancel the tour yourselves. And refuse to play any further Test matches involving India in the future, unless the ICC sanctions them heavily for having brought the game into disrepute with their blackmail. The mere fact that they are threatening to cancel a tour unless they get their way ought to be enough to ensure censure, yet nothing is being done. Would Australia suffer the same fate? If not, why should you tolerate it?

Secondly if, by some miracle, the Third Test in Perth does go ahead, give the Indians a real demonstration of aggression, passion and general hard-nosed play. Put Shaun Tait in the team and give him free rein to rip some bouncers in. Ditto Brett Lee. If you think an Indian player is out, appeal, loudly, even if it is very clear - clean bowled should receive the same volume as a faint edge. Always be sure to appeal directly to the umpire and never look, gesture or otherwise acknowledge an Indian player.

Do not walk if you think you’re out. Wait for the umpire to signal that you are out, then immediately vacate the crease. You are entitled to stand your ground until such time as the umpire raises a finger, so do it!

And throughout the match, from the start until you’re back in the team hotel after the match, there should only be one word said to an Indian player, and it should be one of the following: Heads or Tails.

Do not sledge them, do not compliment them, do not shake their hands after the match. They do not deserve such signs of respect after the way they have carried on in the last couple of days.

And last but not least, take a hardline approach to any comments directed at Australian players by Indian players - if there is even a suggestion that there may have been some offensive intent behind a comment, report it immediately to the umpire. Every time. No exceptions. If you have said nothing to them then they will not have any excuses to fall back on.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 4:44 pm and is filed under General, Politics.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.