I Hope The Umpires Strike Back

I read with interest Duncan Fletcher's well publicised extracts from his autobiography criticising Ricky Ponting's attempted intimidation of umpires during the recent Ashes Test series. This is clearly revenge for the tirade of abuse Ponting inflicted on Fletcher following the run out of the former by substitute Gary Pratt at the Trent Bridge Test.

I admired Fletcher for previously restricting his comments to:
"at the end of the day if you hit the ball straight to cover ... what to do you expect?"
Ponting had then dug himself in deeper by issuing a mealy mouthed apology, where he stated:
“I no doubt let myself down with my reaction and for that I apologise to those who see me as a role model."
He may as well have said:
"I apologise if I have in anyway altered the illusion for those who think I'm a living God."
However, by his recent comments Fletcher has abandoned the moral high ground. Proof that coaches as well as players should wait until they retire before writing their autobiographies.

As for the actual criticism, I agree that on occasions Ponting did approach the umpires when he was unhappy with a decision. However, there is nothing new in this. WG Grace once managed to bully an umpire (George Burton) into reversing a clear caught and bowled decision when playing against Essex. Captains will always attempt to intimidate an umpire if they feel they can benefit as a result and the risk of being fined will not prevent this. It is the umpires job to stand firm and make it clear that such behaviour will have no effect and only makes the Captain look foolish. The better the umpire, the less likely the intimidation. I cannot remember any captain trying to intimidate David Shepherd, but I do remember him making Mike Atherton look like a naughty schoolboy (Edgbaston 1996 Vs. India) for the minor crime of informing a batsman he should respect the umpire!

Players respect tougher umpires and that is what Test cricket requires