Pressure mounting to enact law against pitch invasion

LONDON, JUNE 21. Pressure is mounting to enact legislation to improve security for players and officials at cricket matches following incidents of ground invasion and missile throwing during recent tri-series matches involving Pakistan, England and Australia here.

Tim Lamb, the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board who will meet British Sports Minister Richard Caborn within the next fortnight, said ``what we have seen over the past couple of weeks is totally unacceptable. We are determined now to invoke legislation to make trespassing on a cricket field an offence.'' The board favours measures similar to those in Australia, where anybody who encroaches on to the playing area receives a heavy fine and the possibility of a jail sentence. Such a measure may be in place when India and Sri Lanka visit here next summer.

Former Prime Minister John Major, who was at the Oval on Wednesday in his role as president of Surrey County Cricket Club, urged the government to consider the Australian system.

``We do not want to overreact, but if we have to have legislation to deter the minority, then let us do it. I am reluctant to see the game pushed from what is traditionally done - I would rather deal severely with the minority.''

Growing hooliganism

Hooligan violence, usually associated with soccer and with deep, ugly roots in England, has found its way into the most quintessential of all English sports - cricket.

But there's a cultural twist. Most of the troublemakers involved in three firecracker-throwing, field- swarming incidents in the last two weeks in England have been Pakistan fans - many born and raised in England but still passionate about supporting their country of origin.

Cricket is already reeling from a series of match- fixing scandals around the world in which numerous stars have been banned or implicated.

Now, as the Daily Mail said on Wednesday, cricket has to figure out how to get ``marauding louts to behave like gentlemen.'' All of this in a game historically synonymous with ``fair play.''

``Another day of cricket shame,'' said a headline in Sun. ``Cricket in turmoil: mob rule arrives,'' blared `The Mirror'.

``Whatever happened to those golden, sunlit days in which English cricket represented ... Such high standards of discipline, respect and performance both on and off the field?'' wrote Sun columnist John Sadler.

``That kind of cricket died years ago,'' he added. ``International cricket is in such crisis, for different reasons, you wonder whether it should be suspended for a while and reintroduced only when safety and sincerity of its players can be taken for granted.''

Unlike soccer, cricket has few laws in place to prosecute fans who misbehave. Australia has some of the toughest rules and fines, and few problems. South Africa takes a different approach, using dogs to control unruly fans.

In India and Pakistan, metal fences separate fans and players. That measure would never be employed in England, where 96 people were crushed to death 12 years ago in the Hillsborough stadium soccer disaster.

The English cricket board, the governing body of cricket in England and Wales, called on the government to get tough on hooligans.

``We are not looking for draconian measures. Nobody wants to see police dogs and huge fences on England's cricket grounds,'' said ECB spokesman David Clarke. ``We are looking for sensible measures and that's the sort of thing we will be pursuing with the government.''

Former prime minister John Major, a lifelong cricket enthusiast, said ``I don't know anybody who would like to see them at cricket grounds.'' ``People want to bring the family out and enjoy the cricket. ``I hope we can find a way of ensuring the hooligan element is deterred without that sort of eventuality. I think that would be a disaster for cricket if we had to do that.''

The International Cricket Council, the sport's world governing body, said at its annual meeting here this week that it ``deplored'' the violence but it was up to host countries to guarantee security.

Looming large is the threat of chaos in Saturday's final at Lord's cricket ground - the home of cricket - where Australia faces Pakistan to determine the triangular series championship.

``I don't know what the answer is, but whatever it is, it's got to be done quickly,'' said Ben Hollioake, an Australian- born member of England's team. ``Fining people or jail could work ... Something harsh has to be done to them to stop them doing it again. You can't just say, `please don't come out onto the pitch,' because it obviously doesn't work.''

The Daily Mail rebuked England-born Pakistanis for rooting against England - a bit the way Mexican- Americans root for Mexico when it faces the United States in soccer.

``One of the saddest aspects of the behavior of Pakistan fans is that though brought up in an Asian tradition that emphasises family values ... They are adopting Britain's mob culture.''

- PTI & AP

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : ESPN STAR Sports to telecast series
Next     : Kiwis clinch series