Selective morality!

Mr Gideon Haigh, in an addendum to his article on Cricinfo, writes

An addendum might be in order, given the extreme protectiveness of some readers towards the poor, defenseless, friendless BCCI! Obviously I don't agree that the last paragraph is irrelevant. Indeed, I think there's an area of obvious comparability. Collingwood's appeal at The Oval has been deplored as an act of cynical and unprincipled self-interest at the expense of the game's long-term welfare; there's an argument that the BCCI's stance on Zimbabwe is exactly that.

Fair enough. He goes on to write

Given the benefits that national boards of control derive from the prestige of choosing a team to represent their country, they cannot in the next breath protest that their organisation is 'above politics' and merely in the business of arranging cricket matches. If you rejoice in the honour, you can't abdicate the accompanying responsibility. I suspect, furthermore, that a bit of politics in cricket occasionally does no harm: it prevents cricket sticking its head in the sand and pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist.

Again, laudable.

JAMES SUTHERLAND, CRICKET AUSTRALIA: Issues around foreign policy should be and should rest in the hands of Government. We are a cricketing organisation, whose responsibility and expertise is in managing cricket matches.

So, where was the opprobrium then Mr Haigh?

PS:- Also, in berating the BCCI for its stance over Zimbabwe, Mr Haigh conveniently forgets the role played by Cricket Australia and the ECB over Zimbabwe - which was to do absolutely nothing!

In both cases, it was the Government of the day that forced their hand.

Given this, can we please shelve talk of "morals" and "values" and "doing the right thing"? It makes me want to puke!

PPS:-

Anglo American, the London-based mining giant, is to make what is believed to be the largest foreign investment in Zimbabwe to date, just as the British Government puts pressure on companies to withdraw from the country.

Anglo will invest $400 million (£200 million) to build a platinum mine in Zimbabwe — a move that has raised concern among some of the company’s shareholders and been condemned by politicians.

.....

Despite the political concern about President Mugabe’s regime, Anglo American is pressing ahead with its plans to build a mine at Unki, in central Zimbabwe. The company employs 188 people and a further 450 contractors at Unki and hopes to be producing platinum, one of the world’s most expensive metals, by 2010. A spokesman for Anglo said: “We are developing the Unki platinum project because we have responsibility to our employees, contractors and the local community. We are keeping the situation in Zimbabwe under close watch.”

Did someone say "No normal sport with an abnormal society" ? Did someone also say "Business as usual" ?