Quote of the day: Mickey Arthur

On the brink of going 1-0 down, 99/6 chasing 366 to win, South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur was just about half-right in identifying why South Africa found themselves in the hole they were in. When asked about if he felt Australia's bowlers put enormous pressure on umpires through constant appealing, he said

I think they do it and they master it. Warney is a master and he has an aura about him. He's a world-champion bowler and if we had bowlers like that we'd be placing the pressure on them too. I can never say it's wrong, but they do it.

There is your answer, Mickey. You first need to have half-decent bowlers who bowl well enough to appeal thrice in an over. Please do inform us when you have the bowlers to do the job. We will then look into the first part of your statement.

But wasn't that a loaded question in the first place? I'm sure this isn't the first time. Tomorrow, after Australia have thrashed South Africa by over 200 runs, a reporter would ask Shane Warne if he ever regretted not having captained Australia in a test. Do you reckon his answer would have been "No, mate"? Ditto when Sehwag was asked by an earnest reporter about if he'd like to captain India. His answer was "Of course, it is everyone's dream to do so". Next day's newspaper headline: "Sehwag wants to captain India". I particularly liked Harbhajan's reply to a television channel when told that Sehwag has expressed his wish to skipper India. His reply (in Hindi) translated as Everyone wants to captain India. Even the ten year old in my street wants to. That doesn't mean anything.

Previous instances of cricketers hiding behind umpiring decisions: Warne as Katich's lawyer, Richardson and Woolmer claim Australia benefits in line decisions, Woolmer gets into trouble with the ICC for his comments and [good timing this!] Andrew Symonds blames the umpiring for possibly ending his test career.