After three enthralling days of tight, intense Test cricket, it was incredibly disappointing to wake up to yet another discussion of on-field antics that had nothing to do with the game itself. Again, Andrew Symonds was at the centre of the controversy; this time, however, as the victim of an alleged racist slur by Harbhajan Singh.

The incident will be investigated by the match referee after the Test. But regardless of the outcome, it has already detracted from one of the most intriguing games of Test cricket seen in Australia for many years.

The slur allegedly revolves around the ridiculous “monkey” tag, that has inexplicably been applied to Symonds. There will be those who will argue that calling Symonds a monkey is not racist., using the same idiotic logic was trotted out in defence of Darren Lehmann. But the tag is certainly not complimentary and the fact that it has solely been applied to Symonds, the only dark skinned member of the Australian team, must mean something.

'It is one thing for an unruly crowd to chant and abuse players as happened in the recent tour of India but another thing for it to happen between players'


While it is one thing for an unruly crowd to chant and abuse players, as happened in the recent tour of India - and has happened on many occasions in Australia -  it is quite another thing for it to happen between players. Having said that, however, Australian players have been the ones dishing it out previously and have trotted out “what happens on the field, stays on the field” in defence of their actions. That was certainly the case when they rallied around Lehmann after his disgraceful outburst against the Sri Lankans.

It seems a bit precious, therefore, for the Aussies to tattle to the umpire about Harbhajan in this instance. Nevertheless, now that it has come to light, should he be found guilty, Harbhajan must face the same punishment handed out to Lehmann. Racism is one thing that everyone agrees the game can do without, no matter who the perpetrators are. 

The tragedy of all this is that India dominated day three of the Test, although the Aussies have come back well through Matthew Hayden's century on day four. Following on the back of VVS Laxman’s wonderful century and Rahul Dravid’s painful, ugly but very gritty and determined half-century, fans were treated to a welcome return to form for Sachin Tendulkar and a wonderful supporting knock by Harbhajan himself that helped put his side in a very healthy position.

It was wonderful to see Sachin return to the dominant form that we have come to expect from the little master. It certainly wasn’t the Sachin of old, but it was chanceless, skilful and imperious. More than that, it was something that many critics, myself included, thought he was no longer capable of.

There has been so much good news to come out of this Test for the Indian team, particularly after their poor performance in Melbourne, that it would be a crying shame to have that overshadowed by a spur of the moment outburst by one of its stars.

Let's hope that one thoughtless moment does not become the defining issue of a wonderful game.

How should match referee Mike Procter deal with the alleged verbal abuse by Harbhajan Singh? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.