Wow what a game, i must admit a fair bit of luck did seem to go australias way on this, but that is what the game is all about, without the human element the game becomes mechanical and i'd hate to see that.
I felt quite bad for kumble to, he really put in a captains knock there and i thought he was going to carry them through to a draw to really liven the series up. Even though Australia won, i must say i really respect the effort the indians put into this test, it made it very entertaining and i hope they hold their heads high and really put in over in WA.
As for cheating...im not sure if it was breaking RULES, but it does certainly break the ICC's code of conduct (im talking about appealing here) Either way, regarding whether a batsman is out or not. According to the Lawsim glad Australia won, and im also glad india put in a real fight.
I thought i'd just give some of you the heads up (although im sure you already know) what the laws/rules of the game regarding appealing are, so i have found this snippet and thought i would share it.
"In the sport of cricket, an appeal is the act of a player on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals. There have been occasions when a batsman has otherwise technically been out, but the fielding team neglected to appeal so the umpire did not declare them out. An appeal may be made at any point before the bowler starts his run-up for the next ball.
According to the Laws of Cricket, an appeal is a verbal query, usually in the form of, "How's that?" to an umpire. Since the taking of a wicket is an important event in the game, members of the fielding team often shout this phrase with great enthusiasm, and it has transmuted into the slightly abbreviated form, "Howzat?" often with a greatly extended final syllable. However, recently in international cricket cricketers even actually dance on the field as part of their appeal, urging the umpire to raise his finger, signalling the batsman out. Some players have established their own trademark appeals as well. Occasionally, when a bowler gets a batsman out, he may do the batsman's trademark appeal as a form of celebration but moreover a slight intimidation.
Although technically an appeal is required for the umpire to make a decision, in practice it is often obvious to all that a batsman is out, and the batsman may walk off the field without waiting for the decision of the umpire. This is invariably the case when a batsman is out bowled or to an obvious catch. However, the batsman is always entitled to stand his ground and wait for a decision from the umpire. In cases where he considers he might not be out, such as a catch taken low near the grass or where it is not clear if the ball hit the bat, batsmen will not take the walking option. It is then up to the fielding team to appeal for a decision. Sometimes a batsman will walk even when it is not clear to others that he is out, if in his own mind he is certain he was out; this is considered to be the epitome of sportsmanlike behaviour.
Some decisions, such as leg before wicket, always require an appeal and the umpire's decision, as no batsman will pre-empt the umpire on what requires fine judgment of several factors. Run-outs and stumpings are usually appealed and decided by an umpire, unless the batsman is clearly out of his ground and obviously out. Appealing differs vastly from sledging in the context that appealing is not supposed to be offensive or directly taunting to the other team, and more of a celebration to the appealing team. However, excessive appealing is against ICC's Code of Conduct:
Under the ICC Cricket Code of Conduct, it is considered unsportsmanlike to:
* appeal excessively;
* appeal in an intimidating manner towards an umpire; or
* appeal under the knowledge that the batsman is not out.
Any instances of such behaviour are punishable by fines or match bans, as adjudicated and imposed by the match referee. Australian Bowler Brett Lee was fined 25% of his match fee for excessive appealing during match two of the 2006-07 Ashes series at the Adelaide Oval when he believed English batsman Kevin Pietersen was out caught behind."
That being said, its been going on for years and as far as im concerned is part of the game. India and Sri Lanka are the main reasons the code of conduct came about, in the last 10 years they were well known for their excessive appealing...in fact i remember watching india v australia over in india (the time before last, when gavin robertson was playing for aus hehe) and the indians went up 4 out of 6 balls in the over. Its obviously done more as a pressure thing for the batsman, but occassionally they finger does get raised and to me... thats all part of the game.
Anyway, thats just my 22 and a half cents worth. Lets just hope the next game in WA brings as much excitment for us
