Cricket Australia came under attack from its players and the media for bowing down to the “BCCI’s money power” and letting Harbhajan Singh off the hook. “The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has. The Aussie guys aren’t going to make it up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has... Money talks,” an unnamed Australian player was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

A columnist wrote: “India’s performance in chartering a plane to take the players back home in the event of an independent judge finding against them in the Harbhajan Singh case counted amongst the most nakedly aggressive actions taken in the history of a notoriously fractious game.”

The Daily Telegraph said: “India executed an astonishing political power-play when they achieved a courtroom compromise in the Harbhajan Singh race row in Adelaide.”

Gilchrist role

Cricket Australia wants to utilise the experience of Adam Gilchrist and will offer him some role in the country’s cricketing set-up. “An Adam Gilchrist only comes along once in a lifetime, and we would be mad not to explore ways to keep him with us in some capacity,” CA general manager Peter Young was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald.