Dissident wrote:The spirit of the game is what' simportant, and I see Pakistan as having done wrong by it.Irrespective of whether or not Hair was right or wrong, Pakistan should have taken the field. They refused to do so for a very long time (20 minutes). After the game was called off, they then took the field (30 minutes later),
making the officials look worse. So for me, it is Pakistan who have done far more against the Spirit of Game.
If they don't like the umpires call fine, complain at length and what have you. And if Hair needs to be lynched, then fine, lynch him. But not during the tea break of the fourth day of a game. There is a time and place. None of these problems would be going on if Pakistan had done the right thing and taken the field. Instead, they sat it out like spoilt children who weren't getting it their way.
How about running on the pitch? Is there a difference between doing it accidently and doing it willfully? The former is gaining an unfair advantage, the latter is blantant cheating. But both are still running on the pitch.
What has happened is not good, but it was, once the initial decision was made, the only course of action. Pakistan refused to play. They were given more than enough time to take the field, and a fair chance to explain themselves. They did neither. Sad, but true.
Spirit of the game? An umpire accusing players of cheating with absolutely no proof? Hows that for spirit of the game?