he ICC took two decisions
on Monday. One, it suspended
Australia skipper George
Bailey for one match, besides
deducting 20 percent of his
match fee; two, it docked
David Warner's match fee by
50 percent. Nothing extraordinary
there, one would say.
True, but only until one takes
a look at the charges brought
against them. Bailey has been
suspended for one ODI for
maintaining a slow over-rate
in Sunday's ODI game
against India in Melbourne,
“a minor over-rate offence”
according to the ICC. Warner
on the other hand was found
guilty of conduct contrary to
the spirit of the game and
bringing the game into disrepute
when he confronted
Rohit Sharma during the
match on Sunday.
So, Bailey gets banned for a
“minor offence”, and Warner
gets to walk away despite conducting
himself in a manner
that's contradictory to the
spirit of the game. That's
ridiculous, to say the least.
The situation is worrisome
too, considering David Warner's
growing penchant to look
for trouble; the feisty opener
is invariably in the thick of
action whenever there's
something unpleasant happening
on the field.
On Sunday, Warner confronted
Rohit Sharma when
the latter ran a run off an overthrow
during his innings of
138, and asked the Indian to
“speak English”.
Warner realises he's often
in the wrong, as is the case
this time, but he can't seem
to control himself when
things get a little heated up
out in the middle. “I shouldn't
have engaged him and
should have gone to the other
side to my fielding position,
but I didn't,” Warner
said in a radio interview.
Australia coach Daren
Lehmann, who also backs
Australia's aggressive ways,
feels Warner is pretty close to
crossing the line of acceptability.
“It didn't look great.
At the end of the day we have
to work better at those situations
and get better as a
group ... It's not an ideal scenario,
but we've got to make
sure we're playing the cricket
we want to play without
crossing the line,” he said.
Cricket Australia CEO
James Sutherland was
more direct in his criticism.
“Quite simply, he needs to
stop looking for trouble.
This is the second time he
has been before the ICC
match referee this season
and that's twice too often,”
Sutherland said.
Sutherland, however, said
Warner's “speak English”
jibe at Rohit wasn't racially
motivated. “From my discussion
with David, I am satisfied
that his comments to
Rohit Sharma were not
racially motivated. That said,
I have reminded him that he
needs to carefully reconsider
the manner in which he
approaches these sorts of situations
in the future.”
But there's a large section
of cricketers who are quite
annoyed with Warner's
repeated indiscretions in particular
and the growing verbal
duels in general. Martin
Crowe, the former New
Zealand batsman, is enraged
with Warner's “thuggish”
and “appalling” behaviour
and wants red and yellow
cards, like in football, to deal
with bad behaviour.
“Fining these serial
offenders is not going to
work. You have to take them
out of the game for extended
periods. Two yellow cards
should result in a red card,
which should ban any player
for six months. This is the
only way it will be dealt with.
My concern in the immediate
future will be that Warner
will be in the centre of an
ugly on-field fight during
the upcoming World Cup,”
he wrote in his column.
on Monday. One, it suspended
Australia skipper George
Bailey for one match, besides
deducting 20 percent of his
match fee; two, it docked
David Warner's match fee by
50 percent. Nothing extraordinary
there, one would say.
True, but only until one takes
a look at the charges brought
against them. Bailey has been
suspended for one ODI for
maintaining a slow over-rate
in Sunday's ODI game
against India in Melbourne,
“a minor over-rate offence”
according to the ICC. Warner
on the other hand was found
guilty of conduct contrary to
the spirit of the game and
bringing the game into disrepute
when he confronted
Rohit Sharma during the
match on Sunday.
So, Bailey gets banned for a
“minor offence”, and Warner
gets to walk away despite conducting
himself in a manner
that's contradictory to the
spirit of the game. That's
ridiculous, to say the least.
The situation is worrisome
too, considering David Warner's
growing penchant to look
for trouble; the feisty opener
is invariably in the thick of
action whenever there's
something unpleasant happening
on the field.
On Sunday, Warner confronted
Rohit Sharma when
the latter ran a run off an overthrow
during his innings of
138, and asked the Indian to
“speak English”.
Warner realises he's often
in the wrong, as is the case
this time, but he can't seem
to control himself when
things get a little heated up
out in the middle. “I shouldn't
have engaged him and
should have gone to the other
side to my fielding position,
but I didn't,” Warner
said in a radio interview.
Australia coach Daren
Lehmann, who also backs
Australia's aggressive ways,
feels Warner is pretty close to
crossing the line of acceptability.
“It didn't look great.
At the end of the day we have
to work better at those situations
and get better as a
group ... It's not an ideal scenario,
but we've got to make
sure we're playing the cricket
we want to play without
crossing the line,” he said.
Cricket Australia CEO
James Sutherland was
more direct in his criticism.
“Quite simply, he needs to
stop looking for trouble.
This is the second time he
has been before the ICC
match referee this season
and that's twice too often,”
Sutherland said.
Sutherland, however, said
Warner's “speak English”
jibe at Rohit wasn't racially
motivated. “From my discussion
with David, I am satisfied
that his comments to
Rohit Sharma were not
racially motivated. That said,
I have reminded him that he
needs to carefully reconsider
the manner in which he
approaches these sorts of situations
in the future.”
But there's a large section
of cricketers who are quite
annoyed with Warner's
repeated indiscretions in particular
and the growing verbal
duels in general. Martin
Crowe, the former New
Zealand batsman, is enraged
with Warner's “thuggish”
and “appalling” behaviour
and wants red and yellow
cards, like in football, to deal
with bad behaviour.
“Fining these serial
offenders is not going to
work. You have to take them
out of the game for extended
periods. Two yellow cards
should result in a red card,
which should ban any player
for six months. This is the
only way it will be dealt with.
My concern in the immediate
future will be that Warner
will be in the centre of an
ugly on-field fight during
the upcoming World Cup,”
he wrote in his column.
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