This was published 6 months ago
Taylor credits Marsh but reminds Australians to respect umps after runout incident
New T20 captain Mitchell Marsh did well in attempting to calm an escalating confrontation between his players and the officiating umpire in Adelaide on Sunday night, but other players would do well to remember their wider responsibilities to the game.
That’s the view of former Australian captain Mark Taylor, also an ex-board director for Cricket Australia, upon reviewing footage of the exchanges between umpire Gerard Abood and players including Tim David at what should have been the end of the game against the West Indies.
Umpire Gerard Abood informs Tim David there was no appeal for a runout of Alzarri Joseph.Credit: Fox Sports
“I think Mitch did a pretty good job,” Taylor said. “Like anyone he would’ve liked to get off the ground, game over, win and the game was well in hand anyway. He tried to get a dismissal that was clearly a dismissal, but once Gerard Abood had said at the beginning he didn’t hear an appeal so let’s get on with the game, he had made his decision at that stage.
“It was only when the replay came in that David said ‘oh I appealed’. Whether they did or not, I don’t know, they know. But if the umpire did not hear it, then he didn’t need to give a decision because there was no appeal in his view. So he’s done what he had to do, then the players do what they have to do, which is try to get the guy out.
“But the players have a massive say in the game now in a lot of areas, and with that comes a responsibility to the game itself. Yes, play to win, play to get batsmen out as best you can, but at the end of the day, once the umpire’s made a decision, get on and play the game. Let’s hope that [sort of scene] doesn’t continue.”
Six or so years ago, the sight of a bunch of Australian cricketers surrounding an umpire and seeking to dispute a decision was an unpleasantly recurring one.
“Gerard, you looked at me and I appealed. Mate, you’re better off giving it out. Just give it out. Say you were wrong and give it out.”
Australian player Tim David
Whether Ricky Ponting and Peter Siddle haranguing Aleem Dar at the MCG, or Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood rounding on Ranmore Martinesz in Christchurch, past iterations of the team had no problem crowding officials in full sight of spectators and broadcast audiences.
Since the 2018 Newlands scandal, only once has an Australian men’s player been sanctioned for dissent - then captain Tim Paine in Sydney in January 2021. So the sequence of events in Adelaide was an unfamiliar one in contemporary times.
When skipper Marsh threw at the stumps and missed leaving Spencer Johnson to take the bails off, neither fielder nor bowler appealed. But others in the field, notably David at deep point, claimed that they had, resulting in the following exchanges record on Fox Cricket’s stump mics - heightened by the scoreboard’s rapid airing of a replay.
Spencer Johnson takes the bails off to run out Alzarri Joseph - but the umpire did not hear an appeal.Credit: Getty
Tim David: “I appealed. Gerard I appealed, I promise you. This is a joke mate. I appealed from deep point. I appealed. I appealed Gerard. Gerard, you looked at me and I appealed. Mate, you’re better off giving it out. Just give it out. Say you were wrong and give it out.”
David Warner: “It doesn’t matter. He’s backed himself to not give it out. That’s the issue. It’s umpire error.”
Umpire Gerard Abood: “There was no appeal, can we get on with it guys. This is ridiculous, can we get on with the game. Guys, guys we’re getting into really poor territory, get on with the game.”
As a captain, Taylor observed, there are broad responsibilities for the conduct of the team because cricket’s constant ability to throw up novel scenarios means there cannot be a protocol for everything beyond asking captains and umpires to control behaviour.
“There isn’t a rule for every possible situation because you can’t think of every possible situation,” he said. “The game is changing all the time with things like video replays and decision reviews and protocols around them.
“But mistakes are made by everyone. The overreaching thought from a captain’s point of view is you’re there to guide your team and try to win the match. I’ve got no problem with Mitch or anyone belatedly saying ‘oh how’s that then’, because I’d do the same thing myself.
“But once that moment has passed and it hasn’t been accepted, your job is then to get on with the game and play the game. The administrators are there, in this case Gerard Abood, the umpire, to do a job.”
Those words were pointed for another reason - the record of Australian cricketers in domestic ranks is nowhere near as spotless as their international counterparts over the past two years.
This season so far, there have been 14 instances of dissent or similar offences during the domestic men’s and women’s seasons on the Cricket Australia code of conduct register, following 21 instances over the previous summer.
An awareness of how such episodes are perceived was evident in the words of Glenn Maxwell a half an hour or so after the game ended. “Just one of those weird rules in cricket,” he said. “We should probably just be a bit louder with our appeals.”
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