Feisty Australian pace-bowler Glenn McGrath believes the time has come for his colleagues to start behaving themselves following a spate of citings for bad behaviour on the field.
”I think at the end of the day it is up to the captain [to talk to umpires] and it should be left that way, and we just need to pull our heads in a little bit,” McGrath told a Sydney radio station on Tuesday.
The admission comes hard on the heels of a dissent charge against wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, the third member of the national side to be charged for an offence in a fortnight.
McGrath and pace-bowler Brett Lee were the other two, the former charged with using obscene language and the latter dissent during Australia’s third Test against South Africa in Sydney at the start of the year.
Gilchrist fell foul of officialdom after complaining when a run-out decision during Friday’s one-day tri-series match against South Africa at the Brisbane Cricket Ground was not referred to the third umpire.
Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar had ruled that Proteas’ opener Boeta Dippenaar was not out, but television replays showed him in mid-air when a throw from Andrew Symonds broke the stumps.
Players aren’t allowed to request that decisions be referred to the third umpire where an official can use the replays to help make a decision.
Australian bowlers have been increasingly keen to ask umpires the reasons for their appeals being turned down this summer.
But McGrath said although the team need to curb their emotions on the field, umpires have to be approachable.
”If the umpire said in my opinion that wasn’t out, then you get on with it. I think at the end of the day the umpire still needs to be approachable and you still have got to be able to talk to him,” he said.
McGrath has a history of on-field clashes, including one memorable incident when he verbally abused West Indian batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan from close range in the Caribbean in 2003.
The Australian players formulated a Spirit of Cricket code that was instigated later that year in an attempt to improve the national side’s behaviour.
McGrath felt the Australian team had been well behaved before the recent run of incidents.
”It hasn’t been a good year for us considering it is not even a month old, but you look at our track record over the last sort of 12 to 18 months, two years it has been exceptional,” he said. ”Hopefully it is one of those things that pass and we won’t be seeing the match referee any more.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland was not available to comment, but Peter Young, a spokesperson for the sport’s governing body in Sydney, said it is always disappointing when there is a report.
”Our own players have set very high standards for themselves through the Spirit of Cricket pledge, and as an organisation we have set ourselves a target of having zero breaches,” he said. ”So it is always disappointing when there is a bad day; the players take seriously the pledge they have made.” — Sapa-AFP