“It is accepted that Steve (Bucknor), and his on-field colleague Mark Benson, did not have good games by their very high standards and we feel that given the added pressure and attention Steve’s presence would have at the third Test, it is better for the match and for Steve himself if he does not take part,” said ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed at a press conference in Melbourne.
Bucknor and Benson had sparked a furore with a series of appalling decisions in the second Test that India lost by 122 runs. With most of those decisions going against India, the tour plunged into uncertainty after match referee Procter handed down the ban against Harbhajan.
The Indians had denied the charges strongly, and have stayed put in Sydney since, waiting for the BCCI to “sort out both matters” with the ICC, instead of proceeding to Canberra for a scheduled practice game.
Speed, however, insisted that the move to remove Bucknor was not “due to any representations made by any team or individuals”.
The BCCI welcomed the removal of Bucknor — he will be replaced by New Zealand’s Billy Bowden who will officiate along with Pakistan’s Asad Rauf — with its vice-president Rajiv Shukla calling it a “victory for cricket”.
Later, after an emergency meeting of the BCCI’s working committee, treasurer N Srinivasan, said: “The working committee fully and unequivocally endorsed the stand taken by the president and concerned officials with respect to the quality of umpiring and totally uncalled for, unjustified and patently illegal ban imposed on Harbhajan Singh by the match referee... The working committee of the BCCI took note of all relevant circumstances and developments and decided that Indian team tour to Australia should continue “for the present”. The BCCI will review the tour and all other developments continuously. The BCCI will request the ICC Appeals Commissioner, appointed to hear Harbhajan Singh’s appeal, to expeditiously dispose...
