From the publishers of THE HINDU

Harsh and unjust

Sir, - I was shocked beyond words to read about the harsh and unjust punishment handed out to six members of our team in the second Test at Port Elizabeth. Even Sachin Tendulkar, a gentleman cricketer if ever there was one, was not spared. In the English dictionary, tamper means to meddle, deal improperly, make unauthorised changes, exercise underhand influences. Under what category is Sachin's conduct? He was only removing the grass that had stuck on to the ball due to the wet conditions. Does this cause unauthorised changes?

In the case of excessive appealing we have to attend classes conducted by the South African cricketers. Their screams are more appalling than appealing. All the three pacemen Kallis, Hayward and Ntini shower glares and choice epithets aplenty at our batsmen who believe that a soft answer turns away wrath. They follow this up with some special bouncers too. Appealing is the legitimate right of a player. And finally punishing Sourav takes the cake.

M. G. MENON, TRIPUNITHURABiased decision

Sir, - I am against the decision of Mike Denness, who took a partisan stand on imposing penalties against Indian cricketers, some for excessive appealing. When the South African captain, Shaun Pollock, made the vociferous appeal against Laxman in the same Test, he went scot-free.

If we go back some years, one can remember how Kepler Wessels was let off by the then match referee, even after everybody witnessed how he hit Kapil on his shin.

MADHU BALASEKHAR, TIRUPURFailure of the ICC

Sir, - The recent incident of the suspensions of six Indian players may have come as a bolt from the blue to many, but it would not have surprised the keen observers of the game especially in the sub-continent.

The ICC, over the years, has been accused of being biased on a number of occasions and its track record has not improved in order to prove this accusation wrong.

The Australians, New Zealanders and other teams have gone scot-free in spite of indulging in excessive appealing and trying to pressure the umpires in giving the decisions in their favour. The match referees are rightly accused of being biased as they have not been consistent enough to be able to earn the respect of genuine cricket-lovers, especially of the sub-continent.

Over the years, the ICC affairs have been dominated by England and Australia but for a brief period when India's Jagmohan Dalmiya was its head. They had been found wanting in a number of incidents which involved the players of the sub-continent.

The controversy regarding the suspect bowling action of Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, and the handling of the Shoaib Akhtar case along with that of Harbhajan have added more argument to the fact that the ICC does not sort out the matters related to the sub-continent players quickly enough to save the career of the player concerned and to allow him to resume his duties for his country.

The Australian, English and New Zealand Cricket Boards cannot digest the fact that cricket as a game is the number one sport in all four Test playing countries of the sub-continent. It is only second best in Australia after rugby, whereas in England it has been on a steady decline in the last 10 years. New Zealand is too rugby crazy to follow the fortunes of its cricket team. Even in South Africa rugby is the favourite sport, while in Zimbabwe it is football.

The amount of money being put in through sponsorships and TV rights by the Asian countries and its companies is far ahead than that of all the remaining Test playing countries. In spite of not popularising cricket as much as they should have in their respective countries and in their neighbouring nations, these so-called Godfathers of the game have always managed to control the ICC and have manipulated it on several occasions to serve their own vested interests.

The game needs a very powerful and a committed ICC which looks after all its member countries equally resulting in the overall improvement of the game.

ARIZ K. BOKDAWALLA BY E-MAILA psychiatrist needed

Sir, - The problem with Indian cricket is that the players get much more than they deserve. The BCCI could do Indian cricket a great favour by employing a psychiatrist for the Indian team who could give the players sound counselling.

RAVI BHATIA, UDAIPURKudos to the juniors

Sir, - The report on India's success in the Junior World Cup hockey championship made great reading. It is indeed a shot in the arm for Indian hockey.

The gains made in the tournament will be useless if they do not translate into better returns from the senior team, for that is the yardstick with which the teams are measured.

Indian sport is replete with instances of junior talent withering away. The IHF has done a fine job in moulding a winning outfit at the junior level and it would be even better if the seniors too come up with a similar feat in the World Cup hockey next year.

One hopes that more players from this squad represent India at the top level in future.

M. NARAYANAN BY E-MAIL