Happy New Year to everyone in Irish cricket and in Ulster in particular. Since my last blog there has been no shortage of talking points. David Kennedy returning to Ballymena, the Ireland U19 squad named, the winter nets squad including surprises both in and out, and allegations that the North West is all about cricket and beer. Well as a former North West cricketer I totally refute that allegation. Some of us haven't touched a cricket ball in months!

For me though the most interesting thing has been on the International stage with the extraordinary events unfolding in the Australia v India Test Series. This is a real test of the titans. The biggest country in World cricket against the best country in World cricket. The Australian captain wanted to equal the record of 16 consecutive test match victories set by his predecessor Steve Waugh. That Ricky Ponting wanted that record there can be no doubt and he was prepared to do anything to get it. Australia under Ponting has been relentless, playing aggressive uncompromising cricket. The cricket they have played over the last two or three years has been brilliant to watch at times, ruthless in its execution and without any consideration for the benefit of the game as a whole. In victory the celebrations of the Australian team reminded me of the USA Ryder cup team piling over the 17th green at Brookline in 1999 which did untold damage to the image of American golf. Listening to Andrew Symonds gloating on National Television over the decision or rather non decision that in many ways changed the course of the game was something that I found unpalatable. It was a classless remark and one that showed absolutely no respect for umpire Steve Bucknor. That Bucknor and indeed Mark Benson had poor games is not in dispute, but Bucknor has officiated in 120 test matches and taken part in five World Cups finals. Surely he is allowed one bad game. For Malcolm Speed to replace him at the request of the Indians was pathetic. Of course they deny this to be the case but everyone knows it is a sop to the BCCI.

However it is the allegation regarding racism involving Symonds and Harbhajan Singh that has totally blown this thing into an international incident. Symonds claimed that Singh called him a monkey. That Andrew Symonds had to run the gauntlet of abuse earlier in the year in India was disgraceful. However that abuse from the Indian crowd which so clearly upset Symonds was largely swept under the carpet. So it is clear that the Australians wanted some sort of redress for that abuse. Now the Indians must have known that this upset Symonds so obviously in the heat of battle something was said between Harbhajan and Symonds that has clearly infuriated the Australian. Whether a racist remark was made or not we will never know. Stump microphones picked up nothing and the Indians have denied it and the Australians are adamant. Poor Mike Proctor was left in an impossible situation. Of all the people you would want to deal with a question of racism it is not a white South African. The last thing he wanted to be accused of was being soft on racism yet he was left with no evidence to decide to believe the Australians or the Indians. What a mess. You can't help thinking that there had to be a better way of dealing with this. Ricky Ponting must have woken up the day after the Test match expecting to open the papers and read about his fantastic achievements as captain of a cricket mad nation, but instead the Aussie public, with an instinctive feeling for right and wrong, were calling for his head. In an online poll in Australian newspaper ‘the Daily Telegraph' 79% of respondents said the team did not play in the true spirit of the game while 83% said Ponting was not a good ambassador for the game.

There are lessons for us all here. We all celebrate our winners but it is important to win in the right manner by playing hard but fair. Cricketers in Ulster have extremely long memories and misdemeanours maybe forgiven quickly but rarely forgotten. Also banter or sledging can be funny but it can cross the line too at times. If your opponent laughs at it, it is generally acceptable but be careful what you say. This is something I have to struggle with especially after a batsman is standing smiling at me or ignoring me when I know he was out, he knows he was out and the umpire is the only person in the ground who thinks he isn't. And this neatly brings up the question of walking when you hit it. I believe passionately that you should ‘walk' but that it easier said than done. Indeed to my shame I remember standing on after I hit it and I still regret it. Fortunately with the level of my batting it didn't affect the outcome! I would ask people to remember that standing on after you hit it is cheating, so is claiming a catch that bounced (Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke take note) and so is constantly appealing when you know it is not out to put pressure on an umpire to give a poor decision. Maybe it is wishful thinking expecting things to change now when standards of sportsmanship have slipped so far but at the least could I ask one thing?

You can walk or you can talk but you can't do both. What I mean by that is if you are a ‘walker' then I am quite happy to listen to you complaining about the bad decision you got from the umpire but what really sickens me is hearing batsmen whingeing about the poor decision they got when they stood on when blatantly out earlier in the season or even earlier in the innings. If you don't walk then take the rough with the smooth and have some respect for your two cricketing colleagues in the white coats by keeping your mouth shut. It is a lesson Andrew Symonds could learn for starters.