Melbourne, Jan 8: India said on Tuesday their cricket tour of Australia will go ahead despite racism and umpiring rows, after an eleventh-hour intervention by world cricket chiefs who sacked umpire Steve Bucknor.

India had effectively put the four-Test tour on hold while they appealed a three-Test ban for bowler Harbhajan Singh, who was accused of racially abusing Andrew Symonds, the only black player in the Australian side.

The team had also complained about the performance of Bucknor, accusing him of bungling key decisions in the explosive Sydney match, which ended in accusations of bad sportsmanship and racism.

But India’s cricket board announced late on Tuesday it would go ahead with the tour, after the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Bucknor would be replaced for the third Test in Perth, and announced plans to fly in a top official to ease seething tensions between the two teams.

“The working committee of the Indian board took note of all relevant circumstances and developments and decided that (the) Indian team’s tour to Australia should continue for the present,” Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement.

The damaging row had threatened to derail one of cricket’s biggest series, at a reported cost to Cricket Australia of up to $50 million (43.5 million US) in compensation payments to TV broadcasters.

ICC head Malcolm Speed said the ICC’s chief referee Ranjan Madugalle would attend the Perth Test from Jan 16 “to make sure the ill feeling that has evolved between the teams dissipates.”

The ICC has also decided to appoint a code of conduct commissioner to adjudicate on India’s appeal against Harbhajan’s ban.

“What this does is give us an opportunity to move on,” Speed told reporters in Melbourne.

“Over the last week we’ve seen the best and the worst of our game,” he admitted.

India were incensed by Australia’s behaviour on Sunday’s tense final day, with captain Anil Kumble accusing the hosts of not living up to the spirit of the game.

He found an unusual ally in Australian newspapers on Tuesday, who called Ricky Ponting’s team “boorish” and “arrogant” for taunting the visitors, pressuring the umpires and indulging in ungracious victory celebrations.

However, Australia’s Mike Hussey defended Ponting and said he had the backing of his team.

Speed said Harbhajan would be eligible to play while his appeal against the ban was pending, although he could give no date for the hearing.

“I believe that the final two Tests will go ahead,” he said.

In another twist, Australia spinner Brad Hogg has been charged by the ICC with making an offensive remark to Kumble and vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second Test in Sydney.

Hogg faces a ban of between two and four Tests after being charged with the level three offence under the ICC’s Code of conduct which refers to abuse on the basis of a player’s “race, religion, gender, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin.” The preliminary date for the hearing is set for Jan 14 in Perth, which

is the venue for the third Test.

—AFP