- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Former England captain Nasser Hussain has attacked the team’s time-wasting tactics during the first Ashes Test against Australia as “amateur and embarrassing to watch”.
Hussain said he supported subtle attempts at time wasting in order to win, but the blatant tactics used by Andrew Strauss’s team bordered on the ridiculous and were bad for the sport.
“It wasn’t a street-wise move at all, it was village green stuff. It was amateur and embarrassing to watch,” Hussain said, in his column in London’s Daily Mail newspaper.
“And it was bad for the game – more like diving to win a penalty than delaying a throw in,” he continued.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting slammed England for a lack of sportsmanship after the controversial conclusion in Cardiff to the dramatic drawn first Test.
Ashes-holders Australia were poised to go 1-0 up in the five-Test series before England’s last-wicket duo of James Anderson and Monty Panesar held out for the final 40 minutes to salvage an unlikely draw.
But twice during the 10th wicket pair’s 69-ball stand, England’s 12th man ran onto the field to offer Anderson batting gloves while a physio was eventually ordered off by the umpires after making it to the middle on the second occasion.
Hussain, England captain between 1999 and 2003, said time wasting was an “everyday fact of life” and he supported “whatever it takes to win or save a high-stakes match”.
But he said the England team needed to smarten up and not use tactics “that makes them or their sport look silly”.
“Watching the 12th man run on with gloves, followed by a physio who wasn’t needed because no one was injured, looked terrible and it didn’t even waste much time,” he said.
“It didn’t spoil a classic Test match but it did lead to a slightly farcical finish, which was a shame.
“If I were Ponting, I would have been angry too, and would have told the physio to get off. In those situations England have got to be smarter.”
The second Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.