All's well when it ends this well!

Ricky Ponting's Team Australia's unbreakable run that lasted over 24 months has ended. Finally some would say. And how, is I am pretty sure is the popular sentiment.

This India-Australia series so far, has been a great leveller of sorts. If Sydney Test was a moral victory for India, the Perth 'Pathaaka' like a TV Channel (and don't we all love those chaps' penchant for sensationalising every passing moment in time that they call news), was a victory for the game of cricket.

Beginning with the days of the bearded ol' egg, through the years when a certain Australian made runners out of cricket fielders, to the days of that Gentle Giant from the Caribbean, cricket has been one of aggression between the bat and the ball. Never between the ones who hold one of these.

But over the years, in the name of a bit of a chat, or any other thing one would want to call it, the interaction between the players have been taking up more newsprint than the one between the, like I said earlier, bat and ball. Things like family lineage, wives' loyalties being questioned rather rudely, children's eatables landing up on the pitch, momentarily forgetting the basics of what constitutes a catch, and even imagining oneself to be a batsman, captain and for God's sake, an umpire as well in one match. Tchah!

I think some gentlemen (yeah, yeah) from certain teams (yeah, yeah you know which ones they are), thought no end of themselves. Till this end arrived. Through a famous victory for the Indian team. And a satisfying one for the game of cricket on this day at Perth, Australia. An end which to every right-minded cricket follower fell into place pretty well. With one full day of cricket to spare.

While the Indians I am sure are congratulating fellow team members, I would be surprised if Headmaster Ricky Ponting is not giving a dressing down, spanking or even having a 'bit of a chat' with the supposedly world's best winners and undoubtedly the world's worst losers.

So, till Adelaide, it's 'better luck next time Ricky'. Make that Ricky Panting, or Ricky Ranting, or even Ricky Panting who possibly is now Ranting. But surely, no longer raving.

Midsummer Night's Dream

I begin by recalling what the Bard of Avon wrote about five centuries ago. Midsummer Night's Dream. A romantic comedy that portrays the adventures of a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, and with fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest.

Cut to 2008. A summer in Australia. And the adventures of four cricketers. Ponting, Symonds, Kumble, and Bhajji. Only the bard could have scripted a tale reeking of passion, envy, hate and soliloquies. But the Bard's muse would have failed in inspiring him to come up with a twist like an amateur at plays has managed to. An amateur at plays, aye aye. Yet, a master at playing games. The ICC. And it's latest antic of putting Brad in the hog-light. Fathom this. According to a news channel, ah my favourite topic, Australian spinner Brad Hogg is now charged under Level 3 of the International Cricket Council's Code of Conduct following allegations that he verbally abused Indian skipper Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Hogg is accused of making the remarks during the final day of the controversial second Test in Sydney. Incidentally, Harbhajan Singh was also reported under the same clause! Eye for an eye. Ban for a ban. Whatever happens to what WG Grace popularised? What has been touted as a Dream Series is turning out to be a shame and importantly a nightmare for the players and the game of cricket as well.

Just a passing thought. Is there a match referee for this verbal duel? No. Mr. MP won't do.

As you like it

All's well that ends well. Famous words. The veracity of these words would be known once Team India is back from Australia.

Just as the humiliation of the first test was to sink in, came the tsunami of allegations, and emotions. I am not for once saying it is a great thing to be seeing these kind of things taking place. I mean, I am the sort of chappie who would surely say 'that's not cricket and all that.' But then, while I would say that, I would also say that that's cricket for you if it's in Australia.

I mean, everything goes out there. For instance, Bucknor's finger going up like it did. So, when you are dining with the devil, don't worry too much about the devil's appearances, habits or even vocabulary. Right then, what were we seeing on TV? Ricky, Bhajji, Symonds, Kumble, Pawar, and the gang. After seeing our Boys in Blue smile at us like super-humans in ads, we were treated to sights of them sulking and what not. We saw all that we had to. On and off the field. Heard all that had to be heard. Said all that had to be said. To our friends, colleagues, and the rest of the world to whom we want to be seen as a patriot for standing by the Men in Blue who normally are rolling in green paper. While, every Indian, almost every Indian, has let out that 'damn' or words to such effect, nothing has been done. No. I am not referring to a white sack with Bucknor written on it and set on fire in the middle of the road and all that nonsense. What I am talking about is the cash register manager of World Cricket- ICC. They are yet to move despite Malcolm-you-know who heading it. Now, for my pet peeve. The Media. Aha!

Apart from the two gentlemen's comments; Ricky's outburst and Kumble's famous statement that evoked applause by the Indian Media I don't see how anyone else's comments needed any coverage at all. A Maninder Singh, Chetan Chauhan and the rest of the world. I mean, these possibly are the same blokes who'd have smiled as the Hugheses and the Dean Joneses sledged at them. So much for the exclusives et al. And let me not mention another channel that kept showing that one grounded catch with Gavaskar in the background shouting 'sacrilege' or some such thing.

For goodness' sake, why on earth must all that transpired/transpires between 22 yards take up thousands of miles of footage on Indian Television Channels? And about as much length of newsprint as well?

Speaking of comments, I read elsewhere that Pigeon (that's his nickname and that's not racist) reacted to our stoic Kumble's comment that "only one team was playing in the spirit of the game", saying that he (Pigeon/McGrath) was a little bit surprised.

He went on to add, "I always got on really on with Anil and he's a great guy, very reserved. I find it quite surprising that he would come out and say that." Dear Mr. Glenn, you too were a victim of sledging once upon a time. Though you may want to forget that and also the fact that it was your own doing is another matter. But the fact remains in the form of video footage about how suddenly, like a Bollywood star, you grew young by three decades and threw a fit. And you talk about emotions and surprises. Tchah! Well. That's Australian camaraderie for you. And that's AC (Australian Cricket) for you.

Amidst all these controversies, rest assured that it's not really all black and white. Or even white and brown. It's all about blue and green. Baggy green if you please.

Oh yes! In case you are wondering about Pigeon all ruffled, go to this URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IsVsLh-yGs