THE authority of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the legitimacy of its World Cricket League has been severely eroded by the farce that was enacted in Nepal last Saturday. 

Singapore were denied promotion to the World Division Four League on flimsy grounds.

Unruly behaviour by the Nepal fans cost Singapore dearly and the ICC has done nothing to pull up the host country or its unruly fans. 

Is ICC indifferent because Singapore are a small cricketing nation or did it fear hosts Nepal, whose fans reportedly threatened to disrupt a Division Five final that did not feature their country?

On cricketing merits alone, Singapore should have been promoted.

They did wonderfully well to thrash Jersey and lift their net run rate to 1.347, which would have given them promotion along with the United States (1.371).

But throwing of missiles on to the pitch, which could have been stage-managed, in the match between Nepal and US torpedoed Singapore's chances.

The home team, who were losing badly, advanced unfairly when the dust had cleared with a net run rate of 1.351.

Nepali fans are known to run riot when their team are losing. But is it Singapore's fault that security measures at the Tribhuvan University ground in Kathmandu were inadequate to stop around 5,000 of them from throwing stones and invading the ground for nearly an hour?

American journalist Peter Della Pena, who was at the ground, reported: "Mayhem here. Absolute mayhem and it's quite scary. The players have all left the field. Rocks, big ones are being thrown onto the pitch... I think tear gas was fired into the crowd as things got out of hand."

If the situation was so volatile, what was the need for the ICC-appointed match referee to restart the match after an hour?

Going by precedence the match should have been stopped and awarded to the US. 

In the 1996 World Cup semi-final, when a similar incident occurred in Kolkata, the match was awarded to Sri Lanka by the match referee.

India were in a losing position and the spectators threw missiles from the stands. But none entered the field.

In Kathmandu, it was a more dangerous situation. Yet, the ICC has neither launched an inquiry nor penalised the hosts, whose responsibility it is to ensure safety.

By euphemistically describing the riot as “unruly crowd scenes” and reducing the length of the interruption to “a 30-minute break”, the ICC appears to be indicating that it is a small issue. But it is mistaken. 

There is the possibility that in future, home fans will make strategically-timed pitch invasions to ensure their side gain a similar unfair advantage.

The referee also applied the Duckworth-Lewis method to make up for lost time. 

This was wholly inappropriate as the US had to make only 13 runs to win when violence broke out.

Even taking into account the hour's stoppage, there was enough daylight for USA to complete the formality of winning.

The application of the Duckworth-Lewis method proved cruel to Singapore. Nepal were debited 46 overs and six runs instead of 50 overs and 13 runs.

This helped them to pip Singapore by a narrow .004 margin when the net run rate was recalculated and get promoted along with USA.

The Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) appealed against the injustice meted to its team. But it was brushed aside by the ICC which did not even bother to activate its technical committee to review the incident.

The SCA's president Imran Hamid, who sits on the ICC board of directors, says that he has written to all the relevant ICC honchos. 

He believes the ICC will take action within the next few days.

But why does the ICC have to wait so long? Were its officials blind to the farce that was enacted in Kathmandu?

Would the ICC have kept quiet for so long if the incident had affected a team, say India or Australia, with more financial and political clout?

Instead of stating that there will be a thorough consideration of the consequences of the riot and Nepal will be punished, its global development programme manager Matthew Kennedy has been celebrating Nepal’s rise to 29th place in the world.

What a shame the ICC did not deem it fit to dock Nepal two points and relegate it to Division Six. In any case, Nepal should be banned from hosting any ICC event for at least three years.

And, like they do in football, they must be made to play in empty stadiums in Nepal to teach their rioting fans a lesson. 

By keeping quiet the ICC has given fans in any venue in the world the freedom to behave badly – and be rewarded for it.

It is a pity that the ICC with its indifference has snuffed out the enthusiasm of Singapore's part-time cricketers, who were by most accounts the best team in the tournament and have now been consigned to play in Division Five again in 2012 for no fault of theirs.

For all its talk of promoting good cricket, the ICC in this instance is seen as backing a party that disrupted a competition and falsified its outcome.

There is still time for the world body to send out a clear message that such appalling disorder will not be permitted and justice will be served.

But will it do so? 

Given its politics and poor record, redemption is highly unlikely.

But, unlike the famous competitor, South African Oscar Pistorius — the double amputee world record-holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m (sport class T44), Md Shariff Abdullah prefers long-distance races.

I met him on Nov 8, after he completed the gruelling REAL Run with a carbon fibre transtibial artificial left leg — made popular by Pistorius, 23, as his prefered running blade.

Md Shariff Abdullah with his amazing 'blade'. ST PHOTO: V.K. Santosh Kumar

The veterans' category of the cross-terrain challenge involved running 15km over tarmac, trail, sand and road. Md Shariff, 41, finished 449 out of 545 runners in 1hr 53min and 42sec. The winner Ernest Wong clocked 56:27.

The part-time sales assistant was attempting a 15km run for the first time. But he did not appear to be unduly troubled, except for losing balance at some points on the incline during the sand stretch.

"I did not feel any pain in my left leg," he said with a smile. "The stump of my left leg and the running blade is well aligned. The only pain I felt was in my good right leg."

He runs easily, smoothly and confidently, like a man who has been friends with the road for a long time. But, ironically, he never thought of running until he saw a YouTube clip of Pistorius in action last year.

He then asked himself, 'If he can do it, why can't I?', and proceeded to find himself a running blade.

The instant convert to athletics was born without a left ankle and used to walk with a prosthetic leg.

Last December, he developed pain in the stump. And doctors at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital decided to saw off about 12cm to ease it.

During rehabilitation, he saw the video of Pistorius and asked the hospital authorities if they could get him a running blade.

The blade does not come cheap. It costs about $8,000, and is manufactured in the United States. But, with funding from the National Council of Social Service and a philanthropist, the hospital authorities managed to get him the Flex-run blade in March.

"I felt so comfortable wearing it," he said. "I knew I could run without any problem. It felt like a gift given by God."

Singapore's Blade Runner in action. ST PHOTO: Terence Tan

He has been taking part in long-distance running events since.

Last month, he completed 50km of The North Face 100 Singapore, an event in which runners had to run in pairs and negotiate a variety of terrains, including hard mud, tree-rooted trail, concrete and water crossings.

Last weekend, he took part in the Penang Bridge International Marathon. Next month, he will figure in the Standard Chartered marathon.

"I want to keep on running," he said. "I'm inspired by people's support. Often strangers walk up to me and pat me on my back and encourage me."

The running blade, it seems, has given Md Shariff's life a new meaning — the  belief that he can run and compete as normal people do.

The cricket legend, knighted in 2007 for his outstanding all-round contributions for England, growled at me: "How much time do you need?"

I replied, half-jokingly: "More than an hour."

He became furious. "No go, you get just 20 minutes," he said, and stormed off to complain to the American Express representative, who had arranged the interview at 4.30pm.

I stood my ground. He soon cooled down. And, after a short discussion, agreed to talk to me.

Botham and former England batsman Allan Lamb had just flown in from Hong Kong and were visibly tired. But they answered my questions on Twenty-20 cricket with spontaneity at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

Two legends: Cricketers Ian Botham and Allan Lamb in Singapore. ST PHOTO

I though it would not be decent on my part to stretch it. So, I entered into a pact with the Amex representative that I would be given the chance to ask more questions during the Dine with The Legends event that was to commence at 7pm.

A relieved Botham walked off for a nap. I couldn't help noticing as he passed by that he was not as huge as he appeared on television when he steamed in to bowl at the Aussies. He was beefy, but only slightly taller than my 1.75m height. He was not a giant that I had to fear.

Botham was one of the great all-rounders of the game that I admired when he was on top of his game in the late 70s and early 80s.

I doffed my cap to his fighting qualities. He could turn around a match with his exceptional batting and bowling skills, as he did on numerous occasions against his arch-rivals Australia.

The Amex representative tried her best to comfort me, telling me that it was jet-lag that made him behave the way he did. I said I’m used to such characters, because cricket is full of them.

Some of the American Express platinum card members had paid more than $1,000 to be seated on the same table as Botham and Lamb during the dinner. I found myself among the exalted company without shelling a cent.

Diehard cricket fans worldwide, I'm sure, would envy me.

Botham was a different man when he walked in for the dinner. He mingled freely with the guests and, after a peg or two of Glenlivet, opened up to me.

I got the story I wanted. But, more importantly, I enjoyed the Beefy and Lamby show. After a splendid dinner, they regaled the audience with cricketing anecdotes.

You have to be a cricket fanatic to enjoy most of what they said. It was side-splitting. I had never experienced such amusing and detailed talk from cricketers before.

The coordination between Botham and Lamb was brilliant. And it was facilitated by the sarcastic prods of ESPN Star Sports commentator Alan Wilkins.

They spoke about their pet hate, former England captain Geoff Boycott who was a dour character, how they believed drinking beer and wine at the bar would help their game rather than working out in the nets, and how they took the mickey out of umpires, teammates and opponents.

It was so hilarious that the guests were rolling with laughter. "I had the time of my life," said Julie Brown,49, a Londoner who has been living in Singapore for the past 13 years. "They told such great stories. The punchlines were great. I was privileged to watch him as a cricketer. Now, I was able to sit so close to him."

Botham is a pundit now, extolling the virtues of Test cricket and abhorring the slam-bang T-20. He is also a champion fund-raiser, having raised more than 15 million pounds from his long-distance walks for leukemia research.

When Wilkins asked him if he would embark on such a walk in Singapore, he immediately said yes. And American Express said it would sponsor the event.

Botham may have stirred several controversies and appeared brash during his colourful career. But he has a friendly and humane side to him. I was privileged to experience that last Wednesday.

ONLY the most passionate Formula One fan would do something like this: Buy an antique racing car, stick his favourite team's colours on it and display it around Singapore to whip up Grand Prix excitement.

Pramodh Raja, an events executive with the Singapore Cricket Association and a national cricket team player, did just that from Tuesday to Saturday.

He placed his prized possession -- a 1940s Ferrari replica model -- on a rented pick-up and drove to "areas where there are a lot of people" to garner support for Force India.

F1 supporter with replica of 1943 car.
ST PHOTO: Lim Sin Thai

"People were curious, and wanted to find out more about the race and Force India," said the 29-year-old. "No one laughed at me.

"I though I had to do something for Force India because it is a young team and I wanted to appreciate and acknowledge the effort put in by its owner Vijay Mallya. I have been a fan of his for many years."

(Mallya is an Indian drinks and aviation billionaire, who also owns the Indian Premier League cricket team Bangalore Royal Challengers. He has a house in Singapore.)

Cricket is Raja's primary passion. But he has become an F1 buff since the first night race was held here last year.

A month ago, he spotted a dust-covered replica racing car -- one-sixth the size of an actual F1 car -- at an antique shop on Serangoon Road. He bought it for $1,000.

He did not want to spoil the original colours. So he put Force India stickers on the car.

Then, as the Formula One fever swept the Republic, he hired a Nissan pick-up for $40 a day and went about garnering support for the fledgling F1 team, who are lying ninth among the 10 teams.

F1 supporter with replica of 1943 car.
ST PHOTO: Lim Sin Thai

F1 supporter with replica of 1943 car.
ST PHOTO: Lim Sin Thai

"I like Mallya because he named the team after a nation," said Raja. "Other teams have the company's name."

The slogans draped on the sides of the pick-up are: "Mallya we are with you", "Support Force India" and "Mallya all the way".

So, how are Force India going to fare in this year's Singapore Grand Prix?

"I have this feeling they will come in the top three," said Raja.

Now, that's the kind of fan F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is looking for: Passionate about his team to the core.