"Remember... When in doubt... kucF..." - Al Pacino.

Watched Scent Of A Woman. Never expected to find a DVD rip at ABCD. Three days off as well.
Watching Lt. Col. Frank Slade in top form, priceless!

BTW, found this in one of my mails. I had become rather exercised when this happened in Australia some time back.

streettalk@ESPNSTAR.Com had the good sense not to publish it. So, here goes:

RE: AUSTRALIAN SOJOURN

I have read with some incredulity, the statement of Mr. Mike Proctor where he so sanctimoniously "pontificates" that his decision to impose a ban on Harbhajan is based not on hearsay, as I see one's word against another's, but on "having lived most part of his life in Africa and knowing what racism is".

The ICC is well advised to understand that with the game's proliferation beyond the Anglo-Saxon world, with more cultures being thrown into the mix, perceptions of mal-adjusted people like Mr. Proctor need to be backed by EVIDENCE.

How I wish a lawyer puts him on the stand and rips his decision part by part.

Mr. Proctor is apparently not well versed with the rules under which disciplinary action must be taken. Maybe, his past not having strong democratic roots, doesn't allow him to see what we have known for sixty years.

YOU DO NOT PERSECUTE BASED ON CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

I am sure there have been acquitals in jurisprudence because of insufficient evidence. Harbhajan should have been dealt with severely, IF VIDEO/AUDIO evidence were to be found against him.

Otherwise, what is wrong with Sachin's word ?
Because he does not stand before the southern cross or genuflects on a hundred does not make his version any less authentic.

The ICC needs to come out of it's mentality of offering positions that require training and sensitivity to people just in lieu of their records as players or through the old boy network. They need to verify from time to time that match officials are also CAPABLE and TRAINED to CONTINUE doing their duties.

We are probably heading for another legal battle where the soon to be hapless Mr. Proctor would find that Mr. Ponting lacks stature not just literally and that Mr. Hayden may not balk at making the sign of the cross, once he realises he is unable to throw his weight around like he does from the slips, after the dust settles on this sordid matter.

It is sad that legal recourse is the only option left for teams without adequate representation at the high table of the ICC.

In all this, how does one respond to Mr. Symonds ? He gave a good account of himself when he was on air during the T20 against NZ at Perth.

Symonds:"This guy(Jacob Oram) is going to come hard at me so I am going to try and jam this bastard"

Gilchrist: "(Giggling) (like the prom impressed by the brute, probably) You didn't Roy, did you!!! OMG!!"

Maybe we should exchange a list of words with him which maybe used during games when he starts the chatter and those which he feels are not racist.

And the much maligned monkeys at the zoo, by all accounts, must be preparing to sue, given that they have linked synonymously to such low intelligence.

More than our 9% GDP growth, today I feel, with rich irony, that we must have really come a long way towards being equals as serial offenders and abusers cry to the mothers, "Mama, the Indians down the road are giving better than us!!"

Cheers and no offence, specially to monkeys,

XXXX

Indian
formerly, Aussie cricket fan

- Mail Ends

Oscar Wilde was so right.

"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious."

I continue to learn from my past mistakes. Or so I think. I also repeat them with disturbing frequency.

And lest we forget, vigilantism and monkeys, both Indian and Australian, be damned.