Black players are regularly targeted in Spain, a trait brought to wider notice when Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips suffered when playing for England in Madrid last season. Racist abuse has been a feature of matches involving East European teams for at least a decade and in recent years it has become increasingly prevalent in western Europe as well, notably in Spain and Italy. Adopting a proposal by Sepp Blatter, the president, the executive committee decreed that racist behaviour by supporters will be punishable, in the first offence, by a three-point deduction, in the second, by a six-point subtraction, and a third by relegation.
Confederations and national associations which failed to incorporate the measures could be excluded from international football for two years .The development is long overdue. Stirred, perhaps, by a call to arms from Lilian Thuram, the French international, or maybe by a growing realisation that strict measures were required to eradicate a reviving scourge, the world governing body introduced a range of Draconian punishments. The prospect of a club being relegated because of racist behaviour by their supporters, or a country being disqualified from the World Cup for failing to deal with the issue, became a shock reality last night as Fifa reversed years of leniency towards racism.
de Villiers was the first to go, bowled by Michael Kasprowicz for eight.Herschelle Gibbs did a small repair job with Smith, until the skipper became Clark’s first victim, caught behind for 19 as he fished outside the off stump.Two overs later, Clark struck again, removing South Africa’s best batsman, Jacques Kallis, caught at gully by Hayden for six.Clark then produced a beautiful off-cutter to go past the edge of Gibbs’ bat and crash into his off stump, removing him for 18.His fourth wicket came when he had Mark Boucher well caught by Adam Gilchrist for 16, and his fifth when he trapped Nicky Boje lbw for 31 – South Africa’s highest score.Lee came back after a wicketless opening spell to remove Hall after he had Ashwell Prince caught – also at gully by Hayden – for a painstaking 17 off 67 balls in 105 minutes.. The hosts lost all-rounder Andrew Hall to a fine catch by Hayden in the gully after the batsman had scored 24 and looked the most comfortable against the bowling attackClark, 31, received his cap from former fast-bowling great Merv Hughes as he took to the field, but had to wait until the second change for a chance with the ball.South Africa captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat at the Newlands Stadium, and his players made a slow, unsteady start.A.B. Matthew Hayden was undefeated on 22, and captain Ricky Ponting on 20.
The man out was Justin Langer, adjudged lbw to Andre Nel for 16 on a ball that looked as if it would travel over the top of the stumps, but he had been given not out when he had appeared to glove a Makhaya Ntini delivery down the legside off the second ball of the innings.South Africa owed its total to Ntini and Nel, as the fast-bowling pair put on 32 for the last wicket – the highest partnership of the innings.Nel was the last man out for 18, giving Brett Lee his third wicket and leaving Ntini undefeated on 17.South Africa reached 155 for eight at tea, having spent the first two sessions on the back foot. It will be hard work for the pacemen so the spinners will have to do their share.. Australian fast bowler Stuart Clark took 5-55 on debut as South Africa slumped to 205 all out on the opening day of the first of three tests on Thursday
Australia replied with 63 for one at stumps. The sun will shine, pushing temperatures up to 33C every day.
The weather While Chandigarh offered typically English weather, with heavy rainfall disrupting the first two days, in Bombay it will be back to the subcontinent as we know it: hot. The Wankhede Stadium historically helps the spinners, but England should not underestimate Munaf Patel’s ability to reverse-swing the old ball. The pitch The terracotta-coloured surface was damp yesterday but a baking hot sun will remove any moisture from it before Saturday and it will lose pace and bounce. Dravid has scored 248 runs at an average of 82.7 in the series. Andrew Flintoff will not care whether it is a good ball, an uncharacteristic loose shot or a bit of luck that dismisses him as long as he goes. But should Flintoff call incorrectly, and India compile a sizeable score on the first day, one fears the worst.