A coin that accentuated the growing animosity

By Malcolm Conn

VIZAG, APRIL 1. Steve Waugh is outraged that Indian captain Sourav Ganguly wrongly tried to claim the toss before the third one-day match at Indore on Saturday. The Australian skipper stopped short of calling his counterpart a cheat but their already testy relationship has plunged to a new low after the latest incident.

Waugh, who was once again forced to wait in the middle because Ganguly was late, gave the impression he expected increasingly pressured match referee Cammie Smith to take some action, but it is difficult to know exactly what Smith can do in this situation.

``I think it's seven in a row actually,'' Waugh said of Ganguly's failure to be ready to toss half an hour before the scheduled start. ``I'd like to think we could both be out there at the same time and Cammie is more disappointed than me. There are other issues as well but you're better off talking to Cammie Smith about that.''

``There was the incident at the toss as well which Cammie Smith knows about. I'm not going to go into details. Cammie Smith knows what happened.'' Smith is ill with the flu, has a heavy chest and a sore throat and is unable to comment publicly because of International Cricket Council regulations.

There was confusion from the start when Ganguly walked out five minutes late. He tossed, bent down to look at the coin, then walked to Ian Chappell for the post-toss interview as if he had won, prompting the capacity crowd to offer their first big cheer of the day. Smith intervened and Ganguly stepped back, allowing Waugh to be interviewed first as the leader who had called successfully.

A local coin was used with a number two on one side which was understood to be heads by Smith, Ganguly and Waugh, who called heads. The number two came up and Ganguly acted as though he had won.

``What happened is we have used a different coin every day (match). I threw it up and it fell,'' Ganguly said later. ``I just asked Cammie Smith whether it was heads or tails. I walked up to it and I couldn't figure out whether it was heads or tails. ``I asked him whether it was heads or tails. That's all that's happened. I don't know what all the controversy is about. ``I think if I don't know something I'm supposed to ask. ``I've never said I have won the toss or you have lost it. I have just asked

him.''

Former Indian Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, now a television commentator, said on air that in domestic cricket the number was usually considered tails, which could help explain the confusion. However, Ganguly never said that.

Asked if Smith had shown both captains the coin before tossing, which is expected before every match, Ganguly gave an oblique reply. ``I can't figure out that,'' he said. ``If I had know I would not have asked. I guess the toss doesn't matter. It's the game which matters.''

Ganguly basically claimed that he was too busy to be on time for the toss. ``I was late for a minute,'' he said, obviously wearing a slow watch. ``See, in the morning you want to do your own things. You want to have a knock, you want to take your catches and it starts early. You come at a quarter to eight. ``Yes, I was late for a couple of minutes but I'll make sure it doesn't happen the next time.''

The result of the toss made no difference to who batted or bowled and the Australians were thrashed after another insipid batting performance, losing by 118 runs, a record against India and one of their worst results ever.

But for Waugh, Ganguly's behaviour from the time he was late for the toss yet again to the moment he gave the Australian captain a pointed and an unnecessary send-off after claiming his wicket when the match was well won, highlighted just how much animosity there is between these two distinctly different men.

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