The recent controversy surrounding the USA's decision to conceal from the Pakistani authorities their plans for the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound prompted me to speculate upon the theory that (in my opinion, at any rate) the character of a nation can sometimes be assessed by the manner in which their sportsmen and women conduct themselves.
For example, it is difficult to escape the fact that the country in which the leader of al-Qaeda chose to hide himself doesn't enjoy a very good reputation - especially in cricket. In the past - and over a period of several years - many cricketing sides have experienced problems with Pakistani players and officials.
Some might say these issues could be due to cultural differences - and they may be right. However, for whatever reason, credit must be given to the CIA (or whomsoever is responsible for these decisions) for electing to avoid any confusion by taking matters into their own hands. I suspect Mike Gatting - together with several Australian umpires would have relished the opportunity to do the same.
