Jelly Bean in Cricket

Dear Cricket lovers,                ( Aug 2007 incident at England)

Good news is that India won the Test convincingly but there were frayed tempers. Reports suggest that the Match referee Ranjan Madugalle would be speaking to the rival captains on several incidents of poor behaviour from both teams.

Madugalle told Press : "The most important thing is for the captains to realise their responsibilities and for that to cascade down to the rest of the team. People should remember the game for the quality of cricket that is played, that is the bottom line."

Nice words but when it comes to action, it is one sided; loaded heavily against the Asians (never mind even if you have an asian match referee)

Public memory is short lived. Please recall what Mike Denness did after the Second test against SA in Nov 2001 – disciplined 6 players including Sachin and banning Veeru for one match for dissent.

The win was overshadowed by the British Tabloid which underplayed the jelly bean prank, sledging but over played Sreesanth's shoulder-barging Vaughan. Sreesanth was duly fined 50% of his match fee. England down the barrel was not able to digest the nosedive and tried to steer the sour contest to sweetness by placing tiny nuggests of confectionery at the shortleg infuriating Zaheer. Only the subsequent bat waving made news. Just why the bean was deployed, and who was responsible, did not become the subject of debate as also the more serious continuous sledging by Matt Prior & team. Poor Khan felt the beans to be an insult - the sugar-laden confectionery perhaps was a pointed reference to his weight, a much-commented-upon subject among observers of the game!

The affair began after Khan arrived at the crease and edged his first shot through the slips for four, leading to further banter from England's close-in fielders. Zaheer claimed close fielders had deliberately strewn jelly beans around the crease. Even after he had started batting, he explained, they had continued to harass him by throwing more sweets towards the stumps. Wonder what this jelly bean is all about ??

Jelly beans are a type of confectionery that comes in many different (primarily fruit) flavors. They are small (the size of a red kidney bean or smaller) and usually have a hard candy shell and gummy interior. The confection is primarily made of sugar.

Jelly beans are a favourite among cricketers not only as an energy boost - they also help turn saliva sugary, which makes it easier to polish the ball.

With regards
S Sampathkumar