Everyone seems to forget that it does not matter what the BCCI or the ICC are 'capable' of doing or influencing outcomes. A disconnected judge asked about the only question at hand: Was there reasonable doubt that person A used a racist remark against person B? The answer was yes, there was reasonable doubt. Accquited.

Given Harbajan's background and how he bandies about in Hindi, the phrase "teri maan ki", as supposedly said (per the judges transcript) is the best explanation. Any "Westerner" can say that fast to himself and hear "maanki or monkey". BUT 'teri maan ki", as any Hindi speaker knows, is down right abusive. It disparages Symonds mother. It is no wonder then Ponting and mates agreed to a "lesser" charge of abusive language AFTER ADVICE FROM THEIR LAWYERS. That was the real case, not the racism angle. Cooler heads may have gotten better 'retribution". Follow solely the facts as outlined by the judge, and the case makes all so much more sense.

PSS, Florida, USA

CMJ,

pls read the full judgement before coming up with your analysis and comments. That might help many of your readers.

Thanks

s patnaik, Liverpool,

A great admirer of CM-J, I am disappointed. The Australians and Proctor made this a crisis. The facts are, first, the Australians use sledging to disintegrate the opposition - not the cricket spririt. For once someone returned the compliments. Second, none can be convicted of a serious crime without credible corroboration, simply not available in this case. Third, Proctor listened to the Australians and not Tendulkar. As Justice Hensen has now said only Tendulkar could have heard anything, can Proctor explain why, better than Gavaskar's comment that he listened to a white person and not a brown.
The fact is till 1993 Australia, South Africa and England had a veto in the ICC. Since then, like in many other things in the globalising world, the emerging countries are flexing their muscle and this deeply hurts the Austrailan and English columnists.

Natarajan, London, UK

I cant believe every Indian posting on this site is defensive and not apologetic about the racist remark from Singh and the bullying tactics of their cricket board.

In what other International sport does a nations board have the right to decide who officiates? How dare the BCCI tell the ICC that they wanted Bucknor to stand down. Whether the Indians felt the decision was just is not the point they did not respect the ICC's laws. I have lost all respect for the Indian cricket team and Singh. The vidoe eveidence clearly shows Hayden tell Singh he heard the racial comment yet Singh doesn't deny this he just says "well he started it" from that point on his story changed 4 or 5 times until they decided the similar sounding swear word defence worked.

It smacks of the one day tour where the Indians denied the monkey chants where taking place until they were caught on video.

You can make all the excuses in the world but your country & cricketers have come out of this looking horrible

James, Sydney, New South Wales

Looking at the transcripts, its very clear that symonds, hyden and co were waiting for harbhajan to say the M word. Its amazing that there was no percieved "shock", "hurt" or "offense" in anyone's reaction. The reaction was only that "now you are in trouble". we've got your number!

when someone is so keenly waiting to hear something, you would tend to think you heard it when anything close is said. this is a scientifically proven fact about subconcious mind.

anyway i think only 1 person knows the truth (not 4). either it was genuine or he did an amazing job of convincing everyone in the indian team (including sachin) and BCCI to back him. once you believe something is 100% true, i guess you do not look at repurcussions to decide your actions.

regarding the future, we can take heart that BCCI's record on such issues is exemplary. e.g. match fixing scandal. unlike australians ALL the involved players were permanently banned, including most successful captain Azar and star Jadeja

rishi, port louis,

arnab mitra, I'm afraid your comments are racist. if this is about busting up the white man's club, it is only in your mind. and even if the mic only caught the reaction, that could easily be reasonable proof. unless you think it's a reasonable explanation that they plotted a joint reaction on some hidden signal. perhaps it is better left to judges, eh?

and arc, you say hayden and clarke overheard the m word, yet tendulkar did not, so it's the word of hayden and clarke versus tendulkar. why? they could all be telling the truth. all tendulkar could say was that he did not hear the word spoken. he could not say the word was not spoken.

it's a more reasonable explanation that harbhajan singh said something different and was misheard.

the point is that there is a procedure that should be followed. and it has been. threatening to walk out is wrong. the world is not against you, so stop whining. everyone is subject to "bad" decisions.

jem, london, uk

Please let me make it clear to the writter, that it was the Indian players who did not want to play,and not BCCI,and all they were doing was backing their own player just as the aussies were backing one of their own.To add, have you seen aussie crowd behaviour over the years?Before we talk about the Indian crowd, please can we debate on how the aussie crowd will behave once Bhajji is on the ground next.I believe the writter did genuinley want to put across a balanced view, but it does sound a bit biased towards the aussies especially when crowd behaviour is talked about, and may I add perhaps the author needs to fully look at crowd behaviour in english football stadiums.

joe, stanmore,

Many good points are made by CMJ. How ever where is your comment on Mike Proctor, has he acted correctly as a match referee. Truly he should be repremanded as he is unfit to preside as a match referee, should be debarred from standing as a referee. I wish Mike Dennis who behaved the same way be treated the same way.

Partha U.K.

pobbathi, Chesterfield, Derbys

O.K.CMJ. What would you say about Mike Proctor. Is he impartial and sane.

Come off it. What can you expect from a South African of aparthied era. He did what he believed in.

Partha

pobbathi, Chesterfield, Derbys

Even now justice is not done. Symmonds should have been punished instead of Harbajan because he started it and his team mates trumped up a false accusation . There should be some punishment for that also. Looks like the two countries do not understand each other. One country is way too arrogant. May be we should not be playing cricket together with the current rules and regulations that favours Australia against other Asian countries. I think it is time to go home for India and not cause too much aggravation for the Indian fans who watch and follow cricket for relaxation.

Jan, Fort Myers, Florida U.S.A

Indians don't believe that they will get justice in western non judicial processes. Hence the push by BCCI to ensure justice is done.

I think the South African tour punishment to Harbajhan was forgotton or an error. India doesn't recognise that punishment as it considers that another occasion of bias against India. Raising that issue that this point would have ignited more fires.

For a long time - since I was able to grasp the world - India endured one injustice after another in western processes. You maynot consider these connected but we do. NPT, CTBT, UNSC, Whites only Human Rights Organizations, negative coverage of Nano, Aftermath of 1998 Nuclear tests, Aussie refusal to supply Uranium to India,
Glass ceiling in western corporations, and may many such may be independent to you but connected to us. We see them having same theme. This is first occasion where India is able to WIN justice by using same threats that were long used against us - economic

vijay, Moscow, Russia

Here is my take on it. Hayden and co. started this 'monkey' business and threw in the word 'racial' vilification mate'', just to get Harbhajan worked up and throw his wicket away. He was on his way to a potentially match winning partnership.

Ritesh, Manchester,

CMJ,

Not sure what match you were watching being played in good spirit in Adelaide. I find it appalling that no one has made a significant note of a disgraceful sequence of events just before lunch on the 4th day.

Harbhajan was bowling to Michael Clarke and appealed vociferously for a bat pad catch by Dinesh Karthik, given not out. The ball and bat were not even in the same postal code yet Karthik, Dhoni, and Harbhajan reacted as if they had been seriously hard done by. Clarke had to pull out before receiving the next delivery because Dhoni would not shut up with the sledging behind the stumps as Harbhajan was approaching the crease. Meanwhile Karthik kept wagging his finger at the umpire.

As the players left the field a few minutes later for the lunch break, Karthik was still scowling at Clarke and spit in his direction as they approached the boundary rope. Which team was Kumble referring to as the only one playing in the spirit of the game?

Peter Della Penna, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

sanjay,

"Umpires do make mistakes, but what kind of mistakes were they, which were only against one team ?"

you mustn't have watched the match my friend. both teams were on the end of bad decisions if you remember correctly but i grant you that india received more of them. these umpires have been around for a very long time and are some of the best in the world. questioning their integrity doesn't promote your cause.

in any case, i think india lost because of their batting capitulation but we will just never know how the result would have panned out.

please don't forget the atrocious umpiring that touring teams had to endure in past idia tours from home umpires before the concept of neutral umpires was brought in. i think we have a great system now even though people sometimes make silly errors.

Steve, London,

Firstly I dont think the Indians should have really complained about the nature of umpiring or the alleged boorish behavior of the Aussies. I firmly believe that the umpiring errors were genuine mistakes and things have a way of evening out .As far as sledging and inappropriate behavior is concerned Indians are as capable as any other team in dishing it out.
Secondly the verdict on Harbajan has to be put in perspective. If he really did not use the 'm' word against Symonds then he has every right to feel aggrieved about the initial verdict. Only he knows what the truth of the matter is. It hope it weighs on his conscience. But I really dont understand the reason behind the Aussies complaining about the verdict overuling. Indians followed the due process by appealing and got the ruling in their favor.Just like the aussies had it initially. Whether the Indian board influenced the verdict in any significant manner is all plain conjecture and does not matter in the overall context.

Sharma_from_India, NewYork, USA

I'm not sure what the fuss is about.
Lee fires in a good fast ball, HSingh pats him on the backside, Symonds gets involved with a few choice words (?why) and HSingh retorts with either 'monkey' or 'teri maaki'. No-one can be 100% sure which word was said but I know the latter insult has a bit more ooomph than the former!

So we know for sure both Symonds and HSingh used abusive words - but on what evidence was the charge of racist abuse brought? If it is one player's word against another, then surely anybody rational will throw such a nonsensical charge out, when there is no independent corroboration of events.

The judge has applied the letter of the law, and a rational decision has been made. Yes BCCI stomp their feet, the Australian cricket team have been stomping their feet - either way, accept the decision and move on. Whether India tried to influence the decision or not is immaterial - in any court of law, without evidence, serious charges of racist abuse don't stand up!

Ash, London,

In the matter of repeated umpiring failure (because of aging faculties) Bucknor ought to have retired -honorably-long back as umpire David Shepherd did.As he did not ICC should have retired him. much earlier before he started his-unintended?- damage
As for sledging , just as Australians need to be severely disciplined, BCCI in turn should leave out uncivilized players like Harbhajan and Sreesant and any other player who misbehaves. Players can and must be controlled. But spectators cant be. As any senior policeman or magistrate can attest mob behavior cannot be controlled easily when its only oral.
It is time that new technologies are put to proper use in umpiring decisions.Any player who is found cheating should be fined. If another Sydney happens elsewhere there is bound to be anger and there will be no point in complaining about it.
And Cricket will continue to be plagued with uncivilized behaviour and avoidable ill feeling

Achary, bangalore, India

Every time India raises her voice to an injustice done to her, the rest of the cricketing world accuses India of using her "monetary" clout. Honesty and Integrity is not the monopoly of developed countries. You have rightly pointed out that the Australians are the pioneers of Sledging. The whole Australian team should have been banned long time ago - they have brought the game into disrepute the most in the last 25 odd years.

Kiwi, Auckland,

Excellent comment Christopher. The question that this now raises is how will the Indian authorities prevent Andrew Symonds from being racially vilified when Australia tours India later in the year. India, having taken the moral high ground, must now ensure that not only is Symonds protected from racial abuse from its players, but also the many spectators that will attend matches played in India. If Symonds is racially vilified without sanction of the offenders, then the hypocrisy of the BCCI will be demonstrated and Australia should feel justified in chartering an aircraft and leaving India - mid game if neccasary - to make the point that the BCCI must uphold the high standards that it has set for itself.

Philip, Melbourne, Australia

Umpiring decisions usually favor the winning team. The difference is how much you complain about it. Australia did not make a big thing out of Bowden making a howler at Edgbaston resulting in a loss of the ashes. In Sydney, India lost because they lacked the courage to bat out two sessions.

Winners are grinners and losers complain about the umpires

Bob, Geneva, CH

The series would have been won by India, 2-1, had not Steve bucknor & co. partnered with the other team.
Umpires do make mistakes, but what kind of mistakes were they, which were only against one team ? What kind of mistakes are those which are made by Third Umpire who has the luxury of TV replays ?

sanjay, India,

ICC: INDIA CONTROLS CRICKET
Get over it lads, the king is dead. Hail the King!

Thomas, Letchworth, UK

If the Indian tean is so incensed about this issue let them take their bat and ball and go home. If we are also going to let calls of bias and racism enter the sporting arena, each nation should stay at home and play amongst themselves.

Ranji, brisbane, australia

To single out Mumbai crowds for bad behaviour is wrong. Aussie crowds have been horrible. By no means this gives Mumbai the right. But its just wrong to single out Mumbai.

Speaking of Aussie crowds, did you hear what Djokovic had to say about the Melbourne crowds?

x, Syd, Aus

A good article by Mr. Jenkins. I agree with most of the points he made. Regarding the making of a crisis by the BCCI, every injustice in the world should be made into a crisis, provided there are people and resources to support it. Making a judgement without conclusive evidence is injustice. Therefore a crisis needed to be made out of it. If not the BCCI, the entire nation of India would have stood behind the player involved. The question that needs to be asked, of course, is: How much of a hand did the accusers and the judges have in precipitating the crisis and perpetrating injustice?

Why is racism such an abhorrant concept? Isn't it because, at its core, it's a form of injustice? Should we then accuse the perpetrators of injustice with a charge that is the equivalent of the racism charge? Ponting & Co tried to cheat many times at Sydney. They got away with most oI it but not this one. India is going to play tough both on and off the field. Get used to losing in both places.

sentryman, Chicago, US

Australia won the series two tests to one. The BCCI should take responsibility for the poor preparation of the team for the Melbourne test, otherwise the result might have been different. The Sydney test had a knife-edge finish which was great after five days. The abuse of umpire Bucknor was pitiful and BCCI should be ashamed, as should the ICC for caving in to the abuse. Let's look foward to the one-day series.

Dean, Perth, Western Australia

Don't forget the fact that Australians started bullying and slurring on the ground (even the articles confirms that) then if at all Harbhajan Singh really cursed him (no proof offered) why do you complain? You get back what you throw. Don't you know the basic rule of living. So stop blaming BCCI and enjoy the game. Indians were indeed playing that day.

Noel, Sweden,

Any verdict of guilty must be proved beyond all reasonable doubt, right? The Australian and the British media is proceeding on the assumption that Harbhajan is guilty as accused and that it is only the financial clout of the BCCI got him off the hook. The facts point elsewhere: only Hayden, Clarke and Symonds heard the allegedly simian comparison. Ponting did not, the umpires did not and Tendulkar did not. Even the so-called "enhanced version" of the stump microphone recording picked up only the reaction of the Australians; NOT the monkey slur. As any half decent lawyer will tell you, that does not constitute irrefutable proof. Result: a real judge, who knows what constitutes admissible evidence, junked the verdict of Mike Proctor.
The media is upset becausthe ICC did not take the white man's word as gospel and extended the courtesy of due process to someone outside the chummy whites only club that was the old ICC.
The old order has changed. Welcome to the new world order.

Arnab Mitra, Delhi, India

I simply cant wait for April to come around when these same Aussie cricketers obviously so upset and shocked by an Indian calling them names or what not come to India flashing broad smiles and praising all things Indian to collect their million dollar cheques from the 20/20 Indian premier league.
This whole episode clearly shows that while the Aussies remain the masters at the art of sledging they also run crying to mama if somebody gives it back.
Now that the BCCI has shown the world whos boss lets hope the IPL follows suit and terminates the contract of the four players involved in the hearing or better still terminates the contracts of all the aussies!!

Guhan, dublin, ireland

Fair judicial process gives weight to proper evidence. The statements made by Symonds and his mates alone would not constitute proper evidence, especially in the context of long history of poor behavior. At least in the USA, you are not guilty until you are proven guilty and I am guessing it is the same judicial principle in most civilized nations.

It was not proper for the Indian authorities to threaten cancellation of the tour, if the judgement didn't go their way. At the same time, it is not proper to question the verdict of an independent judge whose task was to judge based on facts, not emotions.

lisa duncan, Durham, NC, USA

When Australians say something like 'bastards' it is called their local way to speaking, when Indians say something you call us Racists???
Is fighting for the truth wrong? Is supporting a Player who DID NOT use any racists remarks wrong? Yes, Indians have money and are rich, so is being rich a curse? For too long Australians have shown aggression which was not needed or polite, when Indians give them a taste of their own medicine they cry foul. Learn to know that Indians can be as aggressive, this is a new India, which will learn from its mistakes and fight back. You cannot bully this team.

Vishal Singh, New York, USA

Cricket is not worth this much fight!

potax, Chennai,

As an Indian I think it is tragic that the we did not allow Law to take its course.
If Bhajji was guilty - He should have been banned and BCCI should not have stepped in to Bail him out. Bhajji should have served his sentence. It would have been a lesson for everyone Sreesanth - among others (For that matter players of other teams as well)
BCCI has lost its credibility by taking up Bhajji's cause. Bhajji should have fought his own battles.

Shyamprasad, Bangalore, India

Mark,
I think you must have watched a different Sydney test. Where did Harbhajan admit to calling Symonds a monkey in Sydney?
And please get your facts straight, Ponting did not claim he heard the M word. He told Proctor that he did not hear anything but reported on the basis of what he was told. Hayden and Clarke were standing in the slips and walking over heard Harbhajan using the M word, yet Tendulkar who was also batting did not hear the M word.
So its the word of Hayden and Clarke versus Tendulkar - let's leave out the two protagonists.
Another question to you and others, if you are agitiated what language would you swear in? Your mother tounge right? Well Harbhajan's mother tounge is Punjabi and he's not very well versed in English. What he probably said (assuming the whole charade was not preplanned) was "teri Maa Ki" which in Punjabi is a swear word much like "shit" in English and used both derisively as well as in fun something like "no shit" is used.

ARC, Kolkata,

Mr Mark has very easily referred this as a blight on Indian society, but my dear friend the bunch of Aussie cricketers who have sledging in their blood can't be justified. And if you consider sledging and abusing as sportsmanship and strategy as the Aussies always have done then you are mistaken. If the Indians wouldn't have retaliated and fought their case then it would have been a real blight for us.

Mritunjai Kumar Giri, Bangalore, India

Very rarely such events have occured in the world cricket when the monopoly has been broken. I mean to say here that the kind of sports spirit Aussies have shown, they should not expect anything better than that.
There is a famous saying that in the city of blinds one should not sell mirrors. Now when the charge against Harbhajan could not be proved, the new tactics is to blame this all on the way adopted by BCCI and put a Question mark on the involvement of BCCI so actively in the case. But BCCI has done all right in taking the matter so far as everything was going unfair. BCCI has made it clear to all the nations that rules of cricket cannot be decided by one country.

Ravi, Delhi, India

the clear facts are

Only Symonds claims to have heard Harbajhan say Monkey. Not Hayden, Not CLarke Not Ponting. They all joined in after Symonds started accusing harbhajan on the field.

Symonds wouldn't be lying. SO too Harbhajan. So we must all accept that it was a case of mis-understanding. Symonds already agitated by what happened in Mumbai may not bein the best condtion to evaluate the situation objectively.

maree, chennai, india

Before saying "permanant blight on Indian society" think of what ponting and team did in sydney. Be thankful to BCCI that they negotiate and let the cricket survive. Now the time has come that you will get as you do. If ausies play gentelman cricket, they will be respected else what ever they have done in sydney they should be banned for lifetime.

Anurag, delhi, india

Aussies invented and perfected the on field and off field abuse of their opponents and the game of cricket, ICC and the media and the Aussies in general accepted it.
As long as Aussies pressurized and bullied the umpire, ICC accepted it and no one called ICC racist or spineless.
As long as Aussies played with the concentration of the batsmen, it was called hard ball game and every one accepted it.
As long as Aussie fans racially taunted touring teams and fans, it was fine, who can ever forget India’s Aussie tour of 2004 when the Aussie team and fans were at their best (read it worse for non Aussies) abusive behavior. Not much was done by stadium or ICC or media. I did read one letter to editor decrying the Aussie behavior during the match, the lady was married to an Indian and sitting with her husband and could not believe the Aussie fans were so rude and racist. What was media reaction, nothing!!
NOW, for the first time Aussies loose a small battle and the whole damn continent is up in arms. This just further goes to prove the Ponting and his band of hooligans on had full approval of the Aussie media, fans as well as the governing bodies.
Its time that other teams, the managers, ICC all get their act together and put this Aussie invention of sledging back in their on throats and out from cricket fields.
And today, I feel sad that for so many years I too was part of the same foolish cricket fans who thought Aussies were a good team !!

Nick Jaggi, Houston,

Its clear that Justice is served now! Aussies will start behaving now and stop being 'crie babies'. BCCI should be congratulated for taking a firm stand against manipulation by Ponting & Co., to indict and ultimately affect the Indian Cricketers.

Andrew Cohen, Melbourne, Australia

Australian players and ICC atleast have learnt a hard lesson that false accusations cannot take them any further. False accusations did not allow them to stand undeterred in their own courts. Christopher Martin-Jenkins thinks it was a 'crisis' because BCCI flexed its muscles indecently - then what happened to the muscles of Cricket Australia? Were they weighed down by the commercial interests?

'Gentlemen' need to understand that if they demand respect they should really act respectably. These are no more the days of colonial rule. You cannot go about restricting the flexing muscles when we are fighting against false accusations.

Raj, Hastings,

Ponting, Hayden, Clarke and Symonds heard Singh's comment, so its not a case of one versus another at all. The case shows how little the Indian board, players and fans care about rascism (at least, when they are the perpetrators). They (and especially Singh) have shown a complete lack of class and sportsmanship, and the sport would be far better if India no longer participated. Its a shame that their threats allowed him to pay a fine and move on (lets not forget that he has admitted that he called Symonds a Monkey, although he claimed it wasn't meant to be rascist (!?!?!) and was just an offensive word-hense the fine). A disgraceful day for cricket, and a permanant blight on Indian society

Mark Young, Boston,

It definitely is sad to see BCCI having to flex its muscles for getting a fair trial. I hope the readers can imagine what the players from nations who would not have the clout of BCCI can go through.Orchestrated campaigns by the teams like OZs can easily eliminate the players who they consider threats by what they consider a mind game and within the framework of cricketing spirit.

Madhavan, Bangalore, India

I am truly amazed by this article. Consider the facts:

1. The Umpires heard nothing
2. The Australian Captain heard nothing
3. It is a question of one word against another.
4. Yet the Match Referee was so sure. Surely that does not count for fairness of verdict.
5. The Australians are well know for their shennanigins on the ground. That is acceptable it appears. Now they are the ones running to complain. Seems a very 'fair practice'.
6. A racist charge is a serious charge and needs punichment if found guilty. BUt the question here is where is the evidence?

Come on guys! The response from the media needs to be balanced as well. Stop showing your true colours (no pun intended).

Andy, San Jose, Ca, USA

Well BCCI did the right thing in standing behind our players. You should see how the Australians behaved so badly in the past 15 years sledging and making rude comments (I do not want to mention the names) and we were the best behaved team to take it quietly. However all things have to end at a time and Australia need to know their limits and this is the right time. From tomorrow Australians would be scared to talk on the field with Indians and you'll see the difference. Hail to BCCI for disciplining Australians. This is a lesson on behavioural for Australians and they'll adopt Indian culture on ethics and mannerism. Jai Hind

Arun, Maryland, US

When a judge has given a verdict that a racial slur was not uttered, the matter is settled. I know of no country that cannot be called as being racist. I have lived in the West and know very well what racism in everyday life is and have heard enough stories about what happens to Indians in Australia. And any sportsperson would agree that in the heat of the game, expletives are used, more so if it is a men's game. What is needed is cordial relations between teams off the field so nothing gets personal on it and a game be played with skill, not through tactics like sledging, mind games and excessive aggression.

Sowmya, India,

Only 4 things to say:

1. BCCI defended Harbhajan. That was good since it was Symonds who came and said a few words to Bhajji before Bhajji retaliated with a so called racial abuse.(Well can't call it a racial comment if somebody is told the truth about his/her face.)

2. Bucknor should be penalised for the way he has umpired against India and other Sub continent teams. Actually speaking, he is the real racist here.

3. Australia should shut their baby crying and concentrate on Cricket. Being real cricket world champions is different that being cricket world champions at getting umpiring favours.

4. Yes, BBCI and ICC must crack down on sledging. Why have they imposed a fine on Bhajji, when it was Symonds who invited verbal abuse by sledging when Bhajji was batting.

Abhishek Singh, Bangalore, India

It's amazing how consistently BIASED rulings go against Asian nations (Murali chucking, anyone ?). Australia conveneinetly gets to draw the "line" on sledging - I suppose it's Ok to use all the 4 letter words because tats what you use at home, Mr. Jenkins so you can us them on the field. Well, we don't do that in Asia. But we do rever monkeys. Wake up - the days os colonialism are over and the frame-of-reference MUST include ALL peoples across the world and not be defined according to convenient western mores. I am just disappointed in myself that I am dignifying this depessing piece of self-serving blather - masquerading as journalism - with a response.

Joseph Rotes, Silicon Valley, USA

I have been reading about the criticism in the Australian media of the reversal of the charge against Harbhajan. They all talk about how CA & ICC bent over to accomodate BCCI. However, the Australians are missing hte point. There issue snowballed because (a) Ricky Ponting decided to escalate the issue despite Kumble's suggestion not to (b) the obviously biased Mike Procter gave a horrendous decision where he took one man's word over another's. That the trusted party was white does not help matter.

Australians need to understand that this isn't the first time Indians and Asians have been at the receiving end of such treatment. The Mike Deniss incident was another case in point. It is the pent up frustration of this treatment at the hands of non-Asian teams and match referrees that has led to this.

If BCCI put on pressure, its only because ICC and CA would understand only that language. The fact is that the first judgement was wrong and the only right thing was its reversal.

Indian_Fan, New York, USA

Harbhajan called Symonds a monkey. This is backed up by solid stump-mic evidence. He and the great Tendulker proceeded to lie about it. Again this is unimpeachable truth.

Harbajhan chose his words carefully as on the recent Australian one-day tour of india he was vilified using the exact same language. That he chose to do this to the only black member of the Aussie team is instructive. It is also instructive of Harbahjan's lack of intestinal fortitude that he has never felt it acceptacle to call, say Chris Gayle a monkey whilst playing in Jamaica.

The Indian team, captain and board vilify the good name of an honest and decent umpire - also, let it be said, black - and for the next two tests get every decision in their favour but yet they have the temerity to accuse the Australians of playing outside the spirit of the game. Am I missing something here?

The Australians are rightly condemned as boorish. The Indians individually and collectively should be condemned of worse.

Kristan Wick, Brisbane , Australia

Many people are incensed that BCCI is not taking it lying down, that they are supporting their player. However, my take on this is that BCCI is doing a little less than what it should do. The good thing is that they have supported Harbhajan, but I don't understand why BCCI is not asking for punishment of Andrew Symmonds who started the ugly episode. He is the main culprit. It's natural for Harbhajan to reply in hard language if he is abused, which happened, unfortunately. Finally, Mike Proctor is to be blamed for inefficiency and racism (for believing Australian's words against Indians, without any material proof), and consequently, making things worse. What came out at last is a deal, not the truth. Money talks. If you don't have money and BCCI has it, chances are you dislike BCCI.

Manas, Dallas, USA

Excellent synopsis of nasty flare-up. All points well taken. Let us hope that the officials and players in the modern version of "The Gentlemen's Game" take note.

Lalit Kumar, Chennai, India

harbhajan needs a strong lesson in manners. as does sreesanth. the bcci is doing no one any favors by shielding the rude behavior of these 2 players. saying it is ok because the other side sledges is to lose all high ground forever. things can't be ok sometimes and not other times. mumbai crowd behavior was disgusting. totally uncivilized.

racism exists in india. it goes by the name of casteism. just because a non-Indian pointed out the flaw doesn't make the flaw disappear.

Indians behaved liked brats, and unprofessional when faced with a serious issue of poor umpiring and bad sportsmanship by Australians. Professionalism is not about money or control.

Terrible for BCCI to behave so poorly.

jshree, bangalore, india

The BCCI should not be vilified for standing behind the players in this incident. Pretty much all cricket fans in India were incensed at the way the second test match was officiated and also, on the subsequent "verdict". And thats a lot of people -- several multiples of the population of UK and Australia combined.

The incident was one person's word against another -- it is basic commonsense that such an accusation cannot be proven without reeking of bias!

Frankly, it is dissapointing to see that the ICC cannot be relied on to make "fair" judgements -- and that BCCI had to go through all that drama just to see that its player is treated "fairly".

Nishant, London, UK

Players can insult one another - at the end of the day it will be forgotten over a beer.

At no time did the Australian spectators hurl insults or verbally or otherwise taunt the Indian team. What made the Symonds-Harbhajan affair particularly unpleasant was the reprehensible behavior by the Indian spectators who taunted and created a hostile environment for Symonds when the Australians were in India earlier.

If the Australian team was guilty of sledging (which they were), and the BCCI of ham-handedness, the behavior of the Indian crowd was unpardonably atrocious, and supplied the history that made an on-field outburst by a player spiral out of control.

Sledging must stop.
Verbal abuse must stop.
Unruly spectators must be banned for life and/or charged.

ICC must strenuously restore decorum in letter and spirit, both on and off the field, for it to be taken seriously.

Maybe then cricket can go back to being the gentleman's game that has delighted millions over the past century.

GCL, Chicago, US