ICC denies appeal to replace Denness

The International Cricket Council yesterday refused India's request for a new referee to officiate at the third Test against South Africa starting tomorrow in Centurion.

Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian Board (BCCI), demanded on Tuesday that Mike Denness be replaced for the match, saying he had unfairly disciplined six Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar, for bringing the game into disrepute during the second Test. But Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, turned down the request. "The BCCI has requested that another match referee be appointed to officiate in the third Test," Speed said. "However, given that the ICC is satisfied that all the procedures have been adhered to, we cannot agree to this request."

Speed said neither India nor South Africa objected to the appointment of Denness as the match referee in September. "The ICC provisions in relation to umpires and referees have been in place for 10 years," he said. "It is clearly understood by all of the ICC member boards that there is no right of appeal against the decision of a match referee. It has never been seriously suggested by any board that there should be such a right. Mike Denness is a former test captain and a very experienced match referee. During his time refereeing Test and one-day international matches his record has been one of fairness and consistency. On the previous nine occasions where Mike Denness has acted as referee for a match involving India, no Indian players have been reported or penalised."

Denness found Tendulkar guilty of ball tampering, the captain Sourav Ganguly guilty of failing to control his players and four other players of "excessive appealing".

Speed said it was common knowledge that the ICC was carrying out an extensive review of the way umpires and referees were appointed, trained and evaluated. And Malcolm Gray, the ICC president, said the organisation decided last month to review the penalties for on-field offences. "The ICC is concerned about standards of on-field behaviour of players and has asked umpires and referees to take a stronger stance in respect of charging offending players and imposing appropriate penalties," Gray said. "This initiative has the strong support of all members of the ICC Executive Board."

TV evidence showed Tendulkar using a fingernail to tamper with the ball, and Denness made his decision after a meeting with the Indian player. There has been outrage at the penalty in India.

Tendulkar was fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed a one-match suspended ban, while five of his team-mates were also punished. In the most extreme case, Virender Sehwag was banned for the next Test match and fined 75 per cent of his match fee for excessive appealing, while Shiv Sunder Das, Harbhajan Singh and Deep Dasgupta were fined the same amount and given suspended single-match bans for the same offence. Ganguly was penalised and given a suspended ban for one Test and two one-day international games for failing as captain to control his team-mates.