Cricket controversy: When Mike Denness accused Sachin Tendulkar of ball-tampering

Denness charge against Tendulkar dominated popular debateFor a sport played at the highest level by 10 countries, and at some level of excellence by no more than eight, cricket certainly gets entangled in an inexplicably high number of national, legal, cultural and racial standoffs.Perhaps it is inevitable because as writer Rob Steen says, "No sport relies so heavily on international rivalry as cricket, not pits white so incessantly against black, former master against uppity ex-servant."Cricket's last big crisis took place five years ago with India at its heart. During the India vs South Africa Test in Port Elizabeth in November 2001, match referee Mike Denness pulled up more than half the Indian team for various misdemeanours. Most prominent was India's favourite son Sachin Tendulkar who was accused by Denness of ball-tampering. Four others Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta, Harbhajan Singh and S.S. Das were hauled up for excessive appealing and the then captain Sourav Ganguly for not controlling his team. The charge on Tendulkar was regarded as the most serious and the most inflammatory.The team learnt of the sweeping charges in phases. An Indian working on the TV broadcast crew sounded out Tendulkar about the match referee checking footage around him in the field. Tour manager M.P. Bhargava was handed a letter from Denness on the third night of the Test, listing a 45-minute timetable of disciplinary hearings for the six players scheduled for the next morning. Later that night, a senior member of the Indian team went to have a word with Denness. He is believed to have told the referee that pulling up the Indians for appealing was one issue, but accusing Tendulkar of cheating was entirely another. Denness was advised to be careful about making such a serious accusation against India's most iconic player.Ganguly's men believed the referee had let South Africa get away with equally vociferous appealing and the slur on Tendulkar outraged Indians back home. The hearings held on the fourth morning-in which Sehwag was banned for a Test and the others fined and warned-led to a high voltage drama that polarised cricket. The BCCI wanted Denness gone and were backed by their hosts South Africa. Denness had to leave the country in a hurry and never refereed again. The third Test in Centurion was declared an 'unofficial' contest played without ICC-appointed officials.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Sep 4, 2006 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Cricket controversy: When Mike Denness accused Sachin Tendulkar of ball-tampering

Cricket's last major uproar took place five years ago when match referee Mike Denness hauled up six Indian players.

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