Rohit Sharma was fined 10 per cent of his match fee at the Gabba after he "expressed disappointment" at being given out caught behind off Muttiah Muralitharan.
Replays proved beyond doubt that umpire Rudi Koertzen had done Rohit in with a poor decision. There was daylight between Rohit's bat and Muralitharan's delivery.
But the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe, displaying ineptness that match referees have come to be known for, decided to go with the letter of the rule, not its spirit, and turned his back to the grave umpiring error.
Sharma was guilty under ICC Code of Conduct section 1.3 for excessive, obvious disappointment at an umpire's decision and an obvious delay in leaving the wicket.
Sure Jeff. When a young batsman fighting to keep his place in the side gets done in on zero, we expect him to smile back with all 32 and send the umpire a bottle of wine to show his gratitude.
Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds escaped punishment for similar acts earlier this season. Is it one's imagination, or is ICC really not doing enough to shed its anti-Asia image?
Here's a proposal to the ICC: next time, field robots, not human beings. Then, match referees wouldn't have problems controlling their emotions.
Like Ian Chappell said, animosity and anger on the cricket field is predominately caused by poor officiating. Either poor laws and playing conditions, or bad decision making.
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