Press conference yields little information

In a press conference that rapidly degenerated into a forum for journalists to vent their grievances about the media-unfriendly policies of the UCB, justifications and evidence for Match Referee Mike Denness' actions against six Indian players was sorely lacking.

A sparse statement from a UCB spokesman, which basically set out the penalties imposed on Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Deep Dasgupta, Sourav Ganguly and Shiv Sunder Das, was the only concrete information volunteered from the podium. Opening the floor for questions, the spokesman warned in advance that Denness could not take questions himself, a fact confirmed by Denness in his only words during the entire conference.

Tendulkar, for alleged interference with the match ball, was fined 75 percent of his match fee and handed a suspended ban for one Test match. Sehwag was fined a similar amount and banned from participating in the next Test at Centurion. Captain Ganguly was served a suspended sentence for one Test and two one-day internationals, besides being fined 75 percent of his match fee, for failing to control his players on the field. The other three players were penalised for excessive appealing and charging the umpire, attempting to intimidate him.

The purpose of Denness' presence at the press conference was immediately questioned by Ravi Shastri, who wondered why the Match Referee was there if he was not going to answer any questions. Denness himself looked sulky and annoyed at the entire to-do, frequently glancing at his watch with expressions of impatience.

Other questions, more probing and to-the-point, failed to elicit any more informative answers. When asked who had brought the matter to Denness' attention, for only certain officials designated by the ICC rules are allowed to do so, the UCB spokesman admitted that he did not know. Similarly, when the logic of handing rookie Sehwag a harsher sentence for a seemingly more innocuous act than Tendulkar was questioned, the spokesman looked puzzled and said, "I will speak to Mike later on and find out."

Technicalities that were brought out during the conference included the fact that Tendulkar, with very short fingernails, would find it difficult to tamper with the seam, even if he so wished. It was also pointed out that the umpires repeatedly checked the ball during the course of the match and no aberrations with the ball were reported even after the lunch break. Indeed, if Denness or either of the umpires had noticed any noticeable difference with the ball, why was Tendulkar allowed to bowl the first over after lunch?

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, when contacted by CricInfo, said that he was still waiting for official communication from the ICC on the incident. Yesterday, though, he spoke to Malcolm Gray, ICC chairman, after the news leaked through various media sources, and conveyed his objections. "A player of Sachin Tendulkar's stature should not have been treated in such a manner," said Shah.

One fact that did emerge from the press conference was that there was no provision for appeal for any of the players; blackly ironic, considering that the charge against five of the six players had to do with excessive appealing.