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Australian captain Michael Clarke rushed to defend the reputation of Phil Hughes after Sir Ian Botham accused him of cheating when he claimed a catch with England opener Alastair Cook on 99 in the fifth Ashes Test.
Replays showed Cook’s nudge from the bowling of spinner Michael Beer had bounced before Hughes scooped it up at short leg, prompting Botham to unleash.
“Terrible. Cheating. How much do you want it to bounce into your hands?” Botham said on Sky Sports commentary into Britain.
“He (Hughes) knows he hasn’t caught it. There’s no appeal. Someone else says something and then he goes up.”
However Clarke insisted Hughes was no cheat, and had asked the question about the catch because he was unsure whether the reflex take was fair.
“That’s a bit harsh. I can guarantee one thing, Phillip Hughes is not a cheat, that’s for sure. He’s a wonderful young guy,” Clarke said after play.
“The end result was spot on, Hughesy wasn’t sure, (Brad) Haddin wasn’t sure, we made it clear to the umpires, the umpires referred the catch, checked it.
“I haven’t seen the replay but it must have come up clear that the ball bounced, so it was the right result. That’s a bit harsh for Ian to say that about Phillip, he’s not that sort of guy.”
However Clarke admitted there may be a negative perception of Hughes’ actions, throwing his hands skywards in appeal, as opposed to other examples of players looking unsure when they come up from a low catch.
“Hughesy certainly wasn’t 100 per cent sure and he made that quite obvious,” said Clarke.
“Hughesy has some sort of feel, Hadds can see the ball, nobody else can really see that. I think the result is spot-on. We got the right answer.”
Cook went on to 189 to maintain his remarkable series, but there was further discord when Ian Bell was given out caught behind on 67 and referred the decision.
Video evidence suggested an edge but “hotspot” technology did not, leaving Bell at the crease to be the subject of concerted booing for the remainder of his 115.
“I don’t think Ian Bell is a cheat at all,” said Clarke.
“We thought there was an inside edge. We appealed that, it was referred. Technology says with the result that Ian didn’t hit the ball. I certainly don’t think Ian is a cheat.
“It’s the same for both teams and I actually said that out there to Bell as well. I said, ‘I do think especially hotspot is inconsistent’. But it’s the same for both teams.
“So I’m sure there’s been plenty of cases when we’ve been batting and the same thing’s happened, so it’s just about accepting the decision and getting on with it.
“Hopefully the same thing happens to us tomorrow when we’ve got the bat in our hand.”
Clarke said he remained an advocate of umpire decision reviews, but urged the ICC to make the system mandatory for all series, bypassing the roadblock of Indian opposition to it.
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