Don't jump your fences

There's something very ugly happening in cricket, and if Pakistani fans are not careful they run the risk of being branded the hooligans of the cricket world.

No one wants to spell it out in so many words, but privately there is outrage at seeing opposing teams intimidated and a man beaten and punched when he was only trying to do his duty, and this outrage is being directed at 'those crazy Pakis.' I know, because I was there and heard the muttering on the streets and inside homes.

A little more than a fortnight ago, I was at the Edgebaston grounds and received a taste of what was to follow in the series. It wasn't easy, sitting in the midst of volatile, aggressive fans who screamed bloody murder every time a run was scored. At first there was an undercurrent of good humour about it, but it slowly turned ugly as the Pakistani bowlers closed in for the kill. It was palpable. The animal was cornered, and the crowd smelled blood.

By the time the eighth English wicket fell, the pitch invasion was inevitable. I was surprised to see no steward armed with anything more deadly than what looked like plastic bottles. But I wasn't going to hang around to see if plastic bottles were effective deterrents or not. A few men around me were straining as if on a leash, howling in excitement, their intentions to jump onto the ground as soon as possible quite clear.

I would have liked to stay on till the end, perhaps congratulate some of the fans, but I left. It had ceased to be a pleasant experience, and I pitied the English fans. To see your team losing is bad enough, but to see Nick Knight assaulted and their players stripped of dignity by being forced to walk off the field and wait a further 30 minutes for their demise must have been galling.

One can argue that rowdy fans and pitch invasions are common in places like India and indeed, anywhere else in the world. But physical violence isn't, and in England matters have reached a head. I saw schoolboys -- a matter of great shock to me, considering that they looked educated and so very young -- being led off by stewards halfway through the innings and deposited outside the grounds as punishment. I haven't seen that happen before.

The English way of watching cricket will unfortunately have to change, especially when Pakistan are playing. There simply can't be the flimsy and petite fences currently used. A toddler could climb over those easily. We need player safety and crowd control. It is imperative that no more 'disturbances' are allowed before the match is officially over.

Steve Waugh has rightly declared that he will lead his players off the field if things turn nasty. But he shouldn't be made to wait for that to happen. At the first sign of an invasion, or the first burst of a firecracker on the field, let Australia be awarded the trophy, no matter what the state of the match is.

It would be a shame for the Pakistani team, but how else will unruly elements learn the lesson? They do no one a service by buying a few tickets and spoiling the show for thousands.