Come tomorrow and James Anderson will be up before the ICC judge and jury like a fourth former being chastised by Mr Quelch in a Billy Bunter book. Six of the best old chap and take it on the chin for the honour of Greyfriars.
Already things are more than just passingly tense with Indian captain MS Dhoni having ticked off the ICC for docking half of Ravindra Jadeja’s playing fee in this altercation.
As a skipper he has to back his mate but it is unusual to come out against the panel so strongly. And the ICC has reprimanded him in turn for publicly criticising match referee David Boon’s assessment as ‘hurtful.’ So, everyone is peeved.
That was only a level 1 ‘felony’ against Jadeja reduced from a level 2 charge against him made by England. Anderson is looking at a level 3 charge made by Dhoni which could mean a ban for four Test matches and there doesn’t seem to be much wriggle room for the judicial commission to drop it by a level. Not after Dhoni made himself an eyewitness which clearly changes things.
If a visiting skipper puts his honesty on the line the bases are heavily loaded against Anderson. The ICC, a body led by an Indian and heavily beholden to that country and now, also under pressure from the vocal Indian skipper, is most likely to throw the book at Anderson.
While the Indians might feel a harsh punishment is fair, as sportsmen they are not going to like being accused of cowardice. The British media and the team will certainly interpret Dhoni’s level 3 charge against a key player as an attempt to sideline Anderson and deplete the English bowling attack. The kindest interpretation would be okay, fine, Jimmy deserves a break and a rest, but not this way.
That said, the investigative system is brutally flawed and it is necessary to make some common sense corrections. First, in an ongoing series why should an official mediation fail between the two players and their respective board representatives. They didn’t knife each other or bite an ear and draw blood. There was no brawl. Why is it such a big deal?
If a bit of a push was a criteria for indictment in sport we would have very little soccer, absolutely no ice hockey and half the NBA warming the bench. Mediate and order it to be ended within hours. If that fails then have a judgement against both parties on the same day, never mind if the charges are not the same. The incident is and that is what counts.
It is totally wrong to prolong the agony and the suspense by a gap of 15 days before sitting again in judgement on the issue. This is not a 100-year war that you need to write a history book. Get their statements, talk to witnesses and finish the affair before tea.
Somewhere in all this brouhaha is a tacky spoonful of self-importance and bureaucratic bumf chasing. All this contrived solemnity only feeds the paranoia of racism in fans, goes violently against the ICC’s own diktat on that issue and generates bad blood.
You cannot let minor infringements fester for weeks. We are talking about a mere push. In reverse racism (something that is often forgotten or tolerated) the sledging in non-English languages would make a sailor blush.
Whatever the penalty ordered one side is going to be bitter. The commission will toy with the idea of dropping the charge to level 2 but will it go through with it?
If it stays at level 3 the English will be teed off and they will show it. Not only do you end up spoiling the game and the tour but you make off the field camaraderie a casualty.
Now you are traitor if you invite a couple of Indian players to the country or they treat you to a ‘real’ Indian meal.
Ask yourselves; what would happen if push came to shove.
