Candice Warner goes into bat for husband David as tensions boil over in club cricket
CANDICE Warner is adamant her star husband was the subject of “abuse” from Phillip Hughes’ brother as two years of simmering tensions from sport’s saddest and ugliest feud resurfaces.
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UNIMPRESSED: Warner sledged by Hughes’ brother
CANDICE Warner is adamant her star husband was the subject of “abuse” from Phillip Hughes’ brother as two years of simmering tensions from sport’s saddest and ugliest feud resurfaces.
David Warner walked from the field midway through his innings in a Sydney club cricket match following a verbal altercation with Jason Hughes.
The incident has sparked a war of words with Western Suburbs cricket club releasing a statement on Sunday denying Hughes referenced his late brother in the heated exchange with Warner, who was batting for Randwick-Petersham on Saturday.
Speaking on Channel 9’s Sports Sunday, Candice Warner refused to go into detail about the exchange, but confirmed Jason Hughes’ involvement, and declared that the comments which prompted David Warner to walk from the field were abusive and had gone “too far.”
Warner’s decision to remove himself from any prospect of a conflict with Hughes came nearly eight months after he was slammed for having the opposite reaction outside the dressing rooms in Durban, when he had an explosive confrontation with Quinton de Kock over remarks the South African had made about his wife Candice.
The wider context of Hughes clashing with Warner on a cricket field dates back two years to the inquest into Phillip Hughes’ tragic death where the family’s resentment towards players, including Warner, and Australian cricket was laid bare over what had happened to their son.
Players who took the stand at the inquest like Warner, Doug Bollinger and Hughes’ batting partner Tom Cooper all presented a united front that sledging and short-pitched bowling plans had not taken place in the match where the former Australian opener was fatefully struck.
Members of the Hughes family were visibly incensed in the inquest courtroom when certain remarks were made by players on the stand and Warner on video link from an overseas tour.
The bitter falling out between a grieving family and the game Phillip Hughes’ loved remains an unresolved tragedy in itself.
Since the inquest it’s understood Jason Hughes had not been face-to-face with Warner until Saturday’s grade clash.
Candice Warner said on Nine that the incident which prompted her husband to momentarily leave the field was unacceptable on the part of Jason Hughes.
“I’m not going to go into the details, however David was taken aback by the comments and thought they went a little bit too far so he decided to remove himself from the game.
“There is a difference between sledging and abuse. I won’t get into what was said but yesterday went too far.
“I personally would put it in that category (abusive).”
A couple of hours later, Western Suburbs Cricket Club hit back hard in defence of Jason Hughes.
“There was no barrage of sledges aimed at David Warner by any WSDCC player,” said President, Michael Swan.
“There was a brief exchange between Jason Hughes and David Warner. This exchange had nothing to do with Phil Hughes. This exchange was not vicious or abusive as alleged in some sections of the media.”
The standing umpires made no reports concerning any aspect of player behaviour in the match.
Back in March, the dramatic pre-text to the Sandpapergate scandal was Warner’s anger at being abused by South African players and crowds over his wife, Candice.
Following the de Kock drama which could have ended in a physical confrontation and finished with both players being sanctioned, Warner also stopped and remonstrated with an abusive South African fan as he walked off the ground in Cape Town.
That incident came 24 hours before Sandpapergate.
Warner’s response to walk away on Saturday at Pratten Park showed an increased sense of maturity.
Randwick-Petersham declined to comment on Sunday and deferred inquiries to Cricket NSW and Cricket Australia.
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