Watson gives CA perfect chance to get tough
Roar Rookie
By Matthew Maguire, 20 Dec 2009 Matthew Maguire is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Australia, Chris Gayle, Cricket, Shane Watson, West Indies
Cricket Australia have an important but relatively simple decision to make before the Boxing Day test against Pakistan, and its not who replaces the injured Ricky Ponting.
Shane Watson, the golden haired nomad of Aussie cricket, constantly moving from state to state like a fugitive on the run, should be dropped from the Test team.
In light of the Sulieman Benn penalty of one test match or two one day internationals for giving Mitchell Johnson hugs and tickles on day two in Perth, match referee Chris Broad will hopefully impose similar disciplinary action for Watson’s immature outburst at Windies captain Chris Gayle.
Any penalty should be immediately doubled by Cricket Australia.
Cricket is a gladitorial sport, therefore celebrations and even the odd glare and fist pump as a send off to the departing batsman add to the intensity of the contest.
Watson’s petulant and embarrasing performance however, where Gayle was in no position to respond without compromising his own reputation, showed his immaturity and a blatant lack of respect for his opponent and the game that gives him so much.
No doubt there will be the standard apology and suggestions it was all patched up over a few beers in the rooms after the match.
If so, yet more credit to Gayle who not only maintained his composure at the crease while Watson bounced about like a raver on acid, but will also likely accept any apology in good faith.
Cricket Australia love nothing more than trumpeting their 2003 Spirit of Cricket code, as supposed proof the players have taken it upon themselves to maintain a code of conduct that emphasis’ respect and professionalism.
Neither were on display by Watson at the WACA.
Its an easy decision. Cricket Australia need to make an example of Watson and send him back to domestic cricket (presumably NSW, unless he has moved states again this week).
Throw in a hefty fine and send the message such behaviour is no longer tolerated by cricket’s governing body. They have been too weak for too long.
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LK said | December 20th 2009 @ 6:35am | Report comment
He won’t be suspended by CA. Which is a pity. Something about Watson really annoys me. I find Harbanjan Singh more palatable. Maybe it is the way he struts around mouthing off at opponents, and celebrating wickets when he has played a dozen tests in 6 years (or whatever the stat is). It might be different if he just shut up and played the game, concentrating on not getting injured. The wanna be hard man who checks himself into hospital every time he does a wet fart, doesn’t rate with me.
Bunratty c said | December 20th 2009 @ 7:35am | Report comment
Thank you Matthew. This lout should be outed from international for 6 months. The TV footage of expletives, foot stomping, nasty verbal abuse, etc by Australian cricketers all demean the CA 2003 Spirit of Cricket code and players ‘respect and professionalism’ for the opposition.
JM said | December 20th 2009 @ 9:45am | Report comment
I agree Matthew. Watson’s behaviour throughout the match has been dreadful – the ugly side of the Australian cricket team is clearly alive and well. Cricket Australia need to take much stronger action to uphold the code of conduct. I bet he gets off with a minor penalty, if anything at all.
Mark said | December 20th 2009 @ 10:20am | Report comment
The problem is, when you’ve spent 5 years going out of your way to try and get this child into the team and made him feel like it’s his personal right to be there, how can you possibly turn around and punish him for behaving accordingly?
His behaviour is just embarrassing on the field and I’m surprised that he hasn’t been called to question more often for his behaviour when his appeals are turned down. More often than not he questions the decision and gesticulates or at leasts mouths off about it. He seems to feel that like everything else in his cricket life, things like taking wickets and scoring centuries will just happen for him because he wants them to and he gets a little bit upset when they don’t.
It would be great to see CA actually do something about that or in fact any of the other incidents clearly outside of their spirit, such as Haddin’s ongoing issues (constantly appealing for anything, cheating against NZ, waving his bat at incidents he’s not involved in) or even Ponting’s continued arrogance on the field.
But it ain’t gonna happen.
Viscount Crouchback said | December 20th 2009 @ 10:58am | Report comment
I quite agree.
But I think there comes a point when one concludes that the problem lies ultimately not with the individual players concerned – barbarous though their conduct often is – but with the captain. It is Ponting who sets the tone; it is Ponting who seems to implictly condone the outrageous behaviour of his chaps; and it is Ponting who constantly berates umpires in the most ungentlemanly fashion imaginable.
The tragedy is that many onlookers – Englishmen, Indians, New Zealanders – will treat these events as yet more confirmation that the Australian is an innate barbarian and beyond help. This is not so. The Australian cricketer, traditionally, is a “hard but fair” type. Alas, this team seems to be composed of individuals who are “soft and petulant”.
I feel very sorry for CA. I’m not sure what more they could have done to encourage their players to uphold the good name of Anglo sportsmanship. I suspect that the time has come for CA to take a whip to the rogues in this team. If that means a change of captain, so be it.
davido said | December 21st 2009 @ 2:07am | Report comment
The fact is Australia has one of the best records for on-field behaviour in Cricket.
Despite this, every man and his dog seems out to GET US. I might point out that I can find many worse examples of behaviour in any test match you care to think of. The critics here should watch some non-Australian tests to get some sort of comparison.
Lets look at some examples:
1. H. Singh. Struck a player in the face on the pitch. If that was an Australian he would have been banned for life.
2. Gambhir – struck batsman with elbow in the back. If that was an Aussie, he would have been banned for life.
3. Benn – constantly harassed batsman and elbowed player in the head and shoulders. That would have been a three year suspension for an Australian.
Get a grip people and if you really want to cut down tall poppy’s that much get a life yourself.
MrKistic said | December 21st 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
You forgot this one:
4. A. Symonds – turned up pissed for a one day match and sent home
Oh right, that was off field. Well he did get to the warm ups so it was kind of on field.
Anyway, the point is the Aussies get off a bit light, so how can you claim they would have been banned for life? Where’s the evidence for those claims? They’ve got good records ‘cos they get light sentences. The end.
Fisher Price said | December 21st 2009 @ 1:13pm | Report comment
“oi oi oi”
Tom said | December 20th 2009 @ 12:56pm | Report comment
I agree with Viscount re Ponting. Its hard to be responsible for other people’s actions but that, ultimately, is what the captain does. Ponting sets the tone and his own conduct has regularly slipped into dangerous territory.
As for Watson, he is clearly just a boy pretending to be a man. His actions were embarrassing.
Fisher Price said | December 21st 2009 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
It’s what Punter has seen (and done) all his Test career. He won’t change unless he’s made to. I lost all respect for him during the Sydney Test against India.
One of the ABC commentators (Mitchell perhaps?) noted – prior to the Gayle incident – that Watson had developed the knack of upsetting international opponents. Perhaps here he is the successor to Matthew Hayden; no opponent’s cup of tea.
Ophuph Hucksake said | December 20th 2009 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
Yurk – I can remember Watson giving Jayasuriya a gobful after clean bowling him in a past VB Series match – Jayasuriya had just made about 120. Go you big man!
He seems like an affable enough guy when he is being interviewed, so maybe it’s the unhealthy combination of white line fever and insecurity about his stature in the team, given his cosseted treatment by the selectors.
Fisher Price said | December 21st 2009 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
Watson’s a knob.
prowling panther said | December 20th 2009 @ 3:00pm | Report comment
Watson is a first class idiot. Full marks to Gayle for holding back. If I were him I may have had a swing of the bat. The Benn/Johnson/Haddin incident, although ugly, was entertaining nonetheless. It shows that both sides are passionate. Watson’s antics make one embarasseed to be Australian.
The clint said | December 20th 2009 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
An absolute poor effort from Shane but atleast the passion is there, and its not the worst thing to happen on the field. Lets not forget when certian West Indians said some horrible things about Glenn McGrath’s wife…. Nothing came of that.
Fisher Price said | December 21st 2009 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
Eh? McGrath started that by abusing Sarwan who explained to McGrath that he had been with his wife; not Brian Lara as Pidgeon had suggested.
Benjamin Conkey said | December 20th 2009 @ 4:32pm | Report comment
Ophuph Hucksake, I’m glad you brought up the point about his bizarre celebrations. It doesn’t matter if he gets a top order player or a tail ender..gets someone for 0 or 200, he reacts the same way.
I’ve seen him try and sledge batsmen after getting hit for a six..I mean really does he realise how ridiculous that looks? Surely he’s seen vision of himself.
Opponents can sense his insecurities and purposefully have words to him because they know he bites back. He’s up there with Srisanth and Nel as the worst cricket sportsmen IMO.
Robbert Craddock wrote a piece in the Daily Telegraph about how annoying Suliemann Benn is, but failed to mention Watson (admittedly it was before the Gayle incident).
If he continues to perform well then most Australians will probably forgive his on-field antics, in a similar manner to Lleyton Hewitt.
He does seem like a nice enough bloke in public, and he’s obviously done something right to get Lee Furlong…but clearly he goes too far on the field. Even Glenn McGrath had limits.
Fisher Price said | December 21st 2009 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
Bang on there re: opponents sensing Watson’s insecurities. They’re written all over his i-take-myself-very-seriously face.