Jan 8, 2008, 11:06 GMT
Sydney/New Delhi - Cricket administrators on Tuesday bowed to India's demand that Jamaican umpire Steve Bucknor not stand in the final two Tests of the troubled four-match cricket series in Australia.
Bucknor, 61, earned the ire of the visitors when he gave batsman Andrew Symonds not out in the Sydney Test when it was clear he had clipped the ball with his bat and been caught.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed announced that Bucknor would not stand in Perth or in Adelaide, the venues for the final two Tests. The Jamaican will be replaced by New Zealand's Billy Bowden.
Speed also said the ruling of a disciplinary hearing that had slapped a three-match ban on spinner Harbhajan Singh would be set aside while an appeal by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is heard.
Harbhajan was found to have called Symonds a 'monkey' during an altercation on the pitch.
The BCCI complained that the ICC tribunal had taken the word of Australian players over those of Indian players. No evidence from officials was placed before the panel and Harbhajan was convicted on the word of the Australians alone.
It's still uncertain whether India will play the Perth and Adelaide Tests. The team was to leave Sydney for a match in Canberra but have been told by the BCCI to delay their departure pending the outcome of the appeal.
The BCCI and cricket fans in India welcomed the ICC decision saying it would bring in transparency in the game.
'We are happy to hear that ICC has removed Bucknor from the third test. It is a victory for cricket,' BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla said, adding that the 'ICC has respected sentiments of the people of India'.
Fans held protests across India on Monday when they burnt effigies of Bucknor and shouted slogans against the umpire.
'It is a victory for India as a whole. It shows that Indian cricket stands for principles...and will not compromise on national honour or principles,' Navjot Sidhu, a former Indian cricketer who is now a commentator, told the NDTV network.
'Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting won the test match but lost a lot of respect. India lost the match but won a place in the hearts of the cricketing fraternity,' he said.
During an ill-tempered game in Sydney, the home side took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
In the match that clinched the series for Australia, the home side successfully appealed when Rahul Dravid was caught off his pad rather than his bat.
There was also consternation among the Indians when Michael Clarke was ruled to have caught a ball from Sourav Ganguly that looked as though it bounced first before going to hand.
India, who have never beaten Australia in a Test series as a visiting side, would go into the matches in Perth and Adelaide knowing that a first victory is already out of reach.
If India successfully appeals the decision and Harbhajan plays the matches in Perth and Adelaide the spat might subside. But it may not be settled easily because captain Ricky Ponting laid the complaint against Harbhajan, drawing a rebuke from former Test captain Sunil Gavaskar of India, Wasim Akram of Pakistan and Tony Greig of England.
Australian cricket fans berated Ponting for seeking retribution for Habhajan's alleged indiscretion rather than turning a deaf ear, just as they lambasted him for not criticizing Symonds for staying at the crease when the English-born all-rounder had clearly been caught.
There have been calls for Ponting to be removed as captain and for the side to be disciplined for its loutish behaviour.
Cricket Australia (CA), the administrator of the game in Australia, has defended the team and Ponting's captaincy.
CA chief administrator James Sutherland declared he supported the 'Australian team in its endeavours to play the game as best (sic) they possibly can - it's always been the Australian way to play the game of cricket hard but fair.'
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