Dravid fined for ball-tampering

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Dravid fined for ball-tampering

Wisden Cricinfo staff

January 20, 2004

Rahul Dravid has been fined 50% of his match fee, after being found guilty of ball-tampering during India’s 24-run victory over Zimbabwe at Brisbane.

Dravid was caught by the TV cameras rubbing a cough lozenge on the shiny side of the white ball and is believed to have been reported to Clive Lloyd, the match referee, by the third umpire Peter Parker. He was subsequently charged under clause 2.10 of the ICC’s code of conduct.

Dravid had earlier top-scored with 84 in India’s total of 255 for 6. His case echoes that of Sachin Tendulkar at Port Elizabeth in 2001-02, who was handed a 75% fine and a one-match suspended sentence by Mike Denness for a similar offence.

It was one of a host of decisions - including the banning of Virender Sehwag for excessive appealing - that so enraged the Indian Cricket Board that they demanded his removal as referee for the subsequent match at Centurion, which was deemed unofficial by the ICC.

© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd

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serves him(Dravid) right!

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damn cheater...i had so much respect for him but he is also nothing but a cheater..... seems like even good education was not enough to stop him from cheating...

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fraudi :nono:

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and i actually liked the player..... bummer

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Re: Dravid fined for ball-tampering

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nancy Drew: *
Dravid was caught by the TV cameras rubbing a cough lozenge on the shiny side of the white ball
[/QUOTE]
cough lozenge?? WHat the heck? I mean, can someone explain to me the science behind rubbing a cough lozenge on a ball? Was the ball coughing or something?

Or is it the newest rage amongst cheaters in cricket.... to rub whatever medicine they happen to have in their pocket and rub it on the ball, hoping the ailment will go away?

From cork, to sand to cough lozenge...!! Lets see what these cricketers come up with next.... aallo bukharay ki chutney, maybe?

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pure BS. has any respectable news agency reported this story yet? by respectable I mean rediff or Hindustan Times or anything of the sort?

I refuse to believe this until rediff says this is true. :snooty:

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here is the answer to your reliable source !!

:smiley:

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by sadzzz: *
and i actually liked the player..... bummer
[/QUOTE]

me too :(

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Why do these guys do it. I mean they know that the cameras are on them and will pick up on these instances. I still find it hard to believe that a player like Dravid would do something like this.

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The reason they do it bc they know they r the least susceptible. Sachin did it before and now it's Dravid. They think they are helping their bowlers. WHat a shame!

In a way I am glad its coming out in the open. Its not just the Pakistanis.

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Has anyone stopped to think that Dravid might be innocent as he claims he is?That it was a stupid lapse on his part? Have we become so cynical that no player gets the benefit of the doubt anymore? What does menthol do to a ball anyway? :rolleyes:

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he could be? But what was he doing rubbing menthol on the ball. Surely not cleaning it before he starts sucking on it again. The point is that even if he was innocent he should not have done what he did because the cameras are watching all the players now a days, it then becomes his words against what the camera shows. I didnt watch teh particular incident, but did it acidentally fall out of his mouth and he was trying to retrieve it and rubbed it against the ball or the menthol just appeared in his hand and he rubbed it on the ball. Either way pretty weird.

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karina, well some players in the past have said they were merely picking dirt off the seam of the ball. They got banned and fined and what not. You did not give them the benefit of the doubt.

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You didn't answer my question FG and Ehsan. Ok, lets assume Dravid was guilty, but what does a lozenge do exactly? Has he found a new weapon? Picking the seam I can understand, I would have said he was guilty, but the chap said he was sucking on this lozenge and when he spat on the ball it came out mixed with the spit (urgh) and got rubbed in. He realised at once it was wrong and tried to get it off.

Now what happens tomorrow if a player accidentally vomits on the ball? Is that tampering too? Cause the vomit can contain all sorts of acids and other undigested stuff useful for changing 'the nature of the ball'.

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see the problem is Karina, this is what he says. so, it's his word against the camera as Ehsan bhai said.

why should anyone believe him when in the past other player's word was not trusted? is it because he has a good record? or is it because he's prettier than the rest of them? either way, if he's not cheating because he says he's not cheating, well then I'm beautiful 'cause I say I am beautiful.

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Dravid fine a case of sticky fingers, not cheating, says Indian coach](http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/040121/323/ejx9l.html)

BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) - Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid’s ball-tampering fine after a one-day match against Zimbabwe arose from a silly mistake caused by sticky fingers, not a deliberate attempt to cheat, Indian coach John Wright has said.

Dravid was fined 50 percent of his match fee by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Clive Lloyd after television pictures showed him rubbing a yellow lozenge on the shiny side of the white ball during India’s victory over Zimbabwe in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Dravid was charged under clause 2.10 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which deals with “changing the condition of the ball” but escaped the maximum penalty of a two-match ban.

Wright said the batsman, who has enjoyed an exceptional tour in Australia, had been applying saliva to the ball when fragments of an energy lozenge he was chewing stuck to his fingers.

“It was an innocent mistake,” Wright told reporters. "He was applying saliva to the ball and what happened was the saliva was coloured with that sweet and he wiped it off because he knew immediately that it was only supposed to be saliva or perspiration.

“Rahul knew it straight away and that’s why you could see he tried to wipe it clean – it’s a silly thing but that’s exactly how it happened.”

Wright said Dravid’s reputation as one of the game’s gentlemen should not be tarnished by the affair.

“He’s one of those characters you want playing cricket,” he said. "He’s everything that the game needs.

"If anything with this day and age everyone knows what Rahul Dravid is all about and what he stands for.

“It was one of those things that happens, it’s not as though he applied anything consciously to the cricket ball.”

Dravid was unable to comment on the incident because of ICC regulations but his captain Sourav Ganguly described it as “just an accident”.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said his team was well aware of the issue of ball tampering and it was up to the ICC to deal with any such matters quickly and decisively.

“I don’t think you’ll see us doing anything like that,” he told ABC radio.

A spokesman for the Zimbabwe team declined to comment.

Australia will meet India in the next match of the tri-nation series in Sydney on THursday.

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A rule is a rule. Just like players are getting fined for not looking back at the umpire after a wicket to see if it was really out (which is very silly), the rule has to be followed.

Rules are implemented for a place.

I can understand Dravid as being a good guy. But unfortunately sometimes this stuff happen. If you let him go, then other stuff will be let go too, and then there will be no point of having rules. (just like we have laws in the government).

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i would like to trust Dravid after i read his explanation. it makes sense to me and i think it can happen. his whole image should not be tarnished by this accident.

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Lloyd: Dravid’s tampering was no accident

Clive Lloyd has dismissed suggestions that Rahul Dravid `accidentally’ tampered with the ball during India’s VB Series match against Zimbabwe on Tuesday.

Dravid was fined 50% of his fee after being found guilty by Lloyd, the match referee, of rubbing a cough lozenge on the shiny side of the white ball. But John Wright, India’s coach, claimed that it was “an innocent mistake” on Dravid’s part.

But Lloyd has dismissed such suggestions. “It couldn’t have been accidental because he’s been fined,” Lloyd was quoted as saying by several Australian newspapers. "It was shown he was applying a substance to it. I looked at the film and it was conclusive.

“The footage shows that something has been applied to the ball and the rules state you are not allowed to do that. Once the charge is brought you have to show the evidence. Something was being applied to the ball quite obviously and he must have known it. It’s quite conclusive on film. The rules are there - you can only apply saliva and sweat to the ball.”

Under ICC regulations Dravid is unable to speak about the affair, but when asked whether the incident was accidental, he muttered: “It was . . . [but] I can’t make a comment.”

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