Friday, February 22, 2002 The way to get rid of a tailender, says Paul Allott, gloating about Darren Gough's roughing-up of New Zealand's No. 11 at Napier, is to bang him on the side of the head and clean him up next ball with a yorker. But does the end justify the means? Shouldn't a bowler of Gough's experience be capable of dispatching a batsman of Ian Butler's ineptitude without resorting to bullying? Of course, but it is a worry that he does not have the wit to do it.

Wind the clock back a few days and shift your gaze to another continent and an oasis in the desert. Four men make an announcement. This is no ordinary declaration. A military man leads the group. His end is financial. Without tours and tourists his board will be bankrupt within months.

The most powerful of the four is a businessman. The balance sheet matters to him too, but his ego matters more. He wants to show that there is no bigger fish in cricket's pond. The men's objectives are clear, but they do not have the wisdom to devise a strategy that does not involve bullying. They drag along the minor players from their world. Who would not want to share wealth and ambition? But these four men have the myopia of politicians. Naturally so, because politics oozes from every pore of their societies, not least the part that they control.

By any means necessary, urged Malcolm X. The question for Tauqir Zia and Jagmohan Dalmiya is whether any of this is necessary. Let us be clear, they are the prime architects behind the Asian Cricket Council's Sharjah declaration. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are merely the foot soldiers. How can it be that when their countries are on the brink of war, Zia and Dalmiya can offer each other such unconditional support? I suggest that this is bravado out of control. A gentlemen's club thick with the smoke of conspiracy and agitation.

Many Indians and Pakistanis will be ecstatic at this bellicosity. They should think again. Is this really the way we want our leaders to behave? Is this the limit of their ingenuity? To begin with, this kind of bullying and sabre-rattling is despicable. There are other avenues open to the gang of four, most obviously through the ICC's executive board. We have all heard how many votes the four can call on, so call on them - at the right time.

This pre-emptive strike has two motives. First, Dalmiya's ego. If this had not been about Dalmiya's ego, if that hadn't been important, the ICC-appointed referees commission would have been allowed to meet. But Dalmiya has been crying like a baby who has lost his dummy ever since ICC decided not to appoint the panel of his choice.

Dalmiya did have a point, though. ICC was asking for trouble by appointing a South African to investigate an incident involving South Africa. No-one's integrity is in doubt, but the perception is obvious. And perceived injustice is something that the gang of four have said they will react to.

Even so, Dalmiya should have respected the authority of the game's ruling body - a body he himself once ruled - and had the referees commission's work reviewed, revised, or rejected at the next executive-board meeting. But Dalmiya did not want the commission to meet at all. He wasn't even intrigued to see what it would come up with. He wanted victory and the satisfaction of getting his own way. This man's ego knows no bounds. Another element to this is something that psychologists call transference. Dalmiya wants to exorcise the misery of his final days as president of ICC by transferring that discomfort onto Messrs Gray and Speed, the new president and chief executive.

So, if "Jaggu" Dalmiya will be the winner of this sorry affair, what of the general? Zia has secured, he believes, a promise that India will refuse to tour any country that turns its nose up at Pakistan. Humbug.

A few months ago, the Pakistan Board was amiably accepting that some countries might not want to tour, and that the sensible option would be to play at neutral venues. Dismal crowds at Sharjah and dismal financial returns have persuaded Zia otherwise. Again, this issue could have been addressed at the executive-board meeting, and more stringent penalties approved for pulling out of a tour.

But there are three reasons why a Sharjah declaration was necessary. Pakistan are desperate for New Zealand to tour - they need the revenue. But it seems that New Zealand were serious about touring anyway, and a burst of bullying was not needed. Secondly, the Asian bloc might not be confident that it can persuade the executive board to approve a harsher penalty for reluctant tourists.

Thirdly, and most importantly, despite standing shoulder to shoulder with Tauqir Zia, it would be incredible if Dalmiya really wants anything more formal enshrined in the ICC's code. He must know that the country most likely to refuse to tour Pakistan is his own. The ACC's pronouncement makes a point of promising retaliation against any country outside the gang of four, but is silent on cancelled tours between Asian states. In contrast, ICC's policy would apply to each and every member, and each and every tour.

Leaving aside the even bigger question of India carrying out this threat in support of Pakistan - and historically the Indian board has promised much to Pakistan and failed to deliver - you can see that Dalmiya is getting his cake and swallowing it whole. Zia, meanwhile, has bellowed a threat that he did not need to make, and is clinging to a promise that is empty.

There has been a diversionary argument put about suggesting that the Indian board would have the autonomy to cancel a tour even though it needs the government's clearance to embark on one. Believe that when it happens. Until then, expect the rules of the game to change with political will and public mood. Zia is a fool to count on anyone's support.

Another battle, another victory for Dalmiya. That is the way he likes it, whatever the means. And, for bonus points, he has made a monkey out of the general.

Kamran Abbasi, born in Lahore, brought up in Rotherham, is assistant editor of the British Medical Journal. His Asian View appears on Wisden.com every Friday.

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