The ugly face of cricket (24 January 1999)
CRICKET was facing a new crisis yesterday after a one-day international in which Muttiah Muralitharan was plunged into a new throwing controversy and the England and Sri Lankan players came dangerously close to physical blows
24-Jan-1999
24 January 1999
The ugly face of cricket
By Paul Newman
CRICKET was facing a new crisis yesterday after a one-day
international in which Muttiah Muralitharan was plunged into a
new throwing controversy and the England and Sri Lankan players
came dangerously close to physical blows.
Alec Stewart, the England captain, criticised his opposite number
Arjuna Ranatunga for his conduct during Sri Lanka's remarkable
one-wicket win, earned with two balls to spare in this triangular
series match here in Adelaide. Their successful chase of 303 was
completely overshadowed by ugly incidents which prompted Stewart
to call it "the least enjoyable match I've ever played in".
After the match Peter van der Merwe, the South African match
referee, was seeking urgent talks with David Richards, the
International Cricket Council chief executive based in London, to
receive guidance on how the situation can be addressed before the
teams meet again in Perth on Friday.
"Certain things happened that you would never want to see on any
cricket field," said Stewart, who was seen to barge into Sri
Lanka's Roshan Mahanama shortly after the Sri Lankan had clashed
with Darren Gough. "Sri Lanka were under pressure after what
happened with Muralitharan but if an umpire makes a decision you
accept it and get on with the game. Today that didn't happen. The
way Ranatunga went about dealing with the umpire after the
no-ball call was out of order. Things got very tense after that."
Stewart was heard by a television stump microphone, in the
extraordinary closing stages, telling Ranatunga that "your
conduct today has been appalling for a country's captain", and
when he was asked to confirm it later he said: "Yes, words were
exchanged and they were pretty similar to how you understand it."
The whole sorry saga, arguably the closest England players have
come to physical confrontations with their opponents since John
Snow pushed Sunil Gavaskar of India in 1974, all revolved around
the latest public humiliation of Muralitharan, who was no-balled
for throwing by Ross Emerson, the umpire who called him seven
times during a one-day international against the West Indies in
Brisbane three years ago.
The call by Emerson, standing at square leg, came in the 18th
over of the England innings, immediately after Muralitharan had
bowled his 10th ball. It was the signal for Ranatunga to become
embroiled in the most animated on-field argument with an umpire
since the Mike Gatting-Shakoor Rana affair of 1987. After words
were exchanged and fingers were jabbed, Ranatunga led his side to
the boundary edge for a 14-minute delay while Sri Lankan
officials consulted with their board members both in Australia
and Colombo. It was the length of that delay which so enraged
England.
Meanwhile Ian Botham, commentating on Australia's Channel 9 at
the time, launched into Emerson, saying: "Sorry umpire, you are
out of order. It's bizarre, it's unnecessary, it's totally out of
hand. It's one man's moment of glory."
Ranjit Fernando, the Sri Lankan manager, followed that up by
emphasising that Muralitharan has been cleared by the ICC
advisory panel on illegal deliveries and added: "Someone out
there decided to play god today."
Doug Insole, the England representative on the advisory panel and
a spectator in Adelaide yesterday, said: "When we looked at
Muralitharan in 1997 it was felt that his action was legitimate."
Stewart was adamant that the consequent bad feeling was a direct
result of this incident, the regrettable scenes culminating with
Mahanama clearly obstructing Gough as he ran for a quick single
in the frantic run chase. Gough and Stewart appealed for
obstruction, Emerson turned them down and Gough appeared to aim a
butt at the Sri Lankan which he withdrew before contact was made.
"That was just Darren Gough being a showman," insisted Stewart,
who went on to say that his own contact with Mahanama was merely
a brush of shoulders. "I don't call that a collision. What
happened two balls before [when Mahanama obstructed Gough] was a
collision."
David Graveney, chairman of the England selectors and their
one-day manager, appeared satisfied that nothing was wrong with
the England players' behaviour on the field and no disciplinary
action was forthcoming last night from Van der Merwe. The saga,
however, is far from over. Emerson is due to stand again when the
teams meet in Perth on Friday.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)