Ugly cricket brawl leads to life ban in Bermuda

Oh here we go.

What's with the Andersons stirring the pot and being involved in such incidents

Cricket, like golf, was once a gentlemen's game, then bodyline happened.

Part of me wants to say bad Don, for deliberately making duff calls - but on the other hand having copped plenty of verbal abuse and the occasional physical threat in the course of umpiring (and I do get good reviews compared to other umpires, so it's not incompetence) - well, I can certainly sympathise with what you did. I don't know what it is, but there always seems to be a disproportionate number of tosspots in cricket. I think it's similar to touch football. There's no outlet for your aggression. Perfectly ok with a life ban in this case. Zero tolerance for this sort of rubbish. Just because other sports have seen fit to water down their standards doesn't mean cricket needs to follow suit.

Kicking someone in the head while they're down is disgusting, but then so is trying to hit someone in the head with a cricket bat. Pretty ridiculous that one gets a life ban and the other a "lengthy ban". Give them both the same whether it's life or a year.

So you're suggesting that players that sledge should be physically assaulted?... And that this would stop physical assaults?... Riiiggghhhttttt...

Looks like a typical saturday arvo on Moore Park.

I remember after retiring I umpired for a while. When players get feral it spoils everyone's fun. I once had bowler sledge and stand in batsmen's ways when they ran. He took 6 minutes an over because of his sledging after each ball. The one thing I didn't want to do was give up a Tuesday night at the tribunal. I just told him that unless things changed, I'd probably be distracted by making mistakes. He then abused me and, strangely, not long after, he thought he had a wicket but, as he turned around, I had had made a late...and silent...call of "no ball". That happened 4 times...one way or another. Knicks not heard, LBs "too close" despite being obvious. When the captain challenged me, I reminded him that I had already asked the bowler and the captain to get a grip. The "mistakes" would continue until things changed. I think that when players no longer want to play cricket, they no longer need umpires to be fair. It worked...eventually. I got a terrible umpire's review from one captain and a great one from the other.

I remember a mate of mine throwing his bat down and walking up to a fieldsman threatening to knock him out if he didn't shut up (it was getting personal). Long way from swinging the bat at someone or actually physically hitting someone, but still, these things happen.

I agree actually, if there's going to be life bans, the other player should be looked at too. I think both players should have gotten a couple of years, but maybe not life bans. We don't know what the other bloke did to provoke it.

Ummm mate , AFL is a contact sport unlike cricket .

I am not surprised that this hasn't happened before with the plethora of ugly sledging in the game . Cricket like golf was once a gentlemans game. Then the 1970s , Dennis Lillee etc happened and the game was never the same . It's a shame that someone who could handle themselves didn't grab the young DK by the throat and sort him in the dressing room , Katch style. Ditto the likes of McGrath , Hayden , Symonds , Warne , Warner etc etc.

One of the many reasons I love cricket it that we don't have this type of stuff in our game. Respect for other players and umpires needs to be upheld. I totally agree with the life bans, the authorities have sent a message and upheld crickets long traditions. Brawls are for baseball, not cricket.

I gotta say that it seems a bit stiff to give one guy a life ban for trying to kick someone in the head, and then not doing the same to the guy that went at HIS head with a cricket bat. After all, if either one had made contact the consequences would have been about as bad as each other, you'd think.

Been thousands and thousands of punch ups on a footy field Ronan, ive never seen one ever on a cricket field. As you said kicking someone in the head when they are on the ground is despicable, (even if he didn't connect) and I'd guess if it happened on an AFL field or NRL field they would at least be looking at a years suspension

He missed him with the kick though Nudge, as the report states, so is he being banned for life for intent? I reckon a two-year ban would be a serious punishment. Look at professional sports like AFL - Barry Hall, a 6'5, 110kg bloke trained in boxing unleashed a massive roundhouse king hit unprovoked on Brent Staker, landing flush on the jaw and knocking him for six and Hall was only banned for seven weeks. Trying to kick someone on the ground is despicable, no doubt, but the other bloke had just tried to clobber him in the head with a bat. It was a mad situation all round which escalated quickly and luckily no one was really hurt it seems.

You serious Ronan? A blokes lying on the ground in a helpless situation and some thug comes and boots him as hard as he can in the head on a cricket field. Should never be allowed to play again

This is an ugly incident but a life ban is a very harsh sentence to hand out over an incident in which none of the people involved seemed to really be hurt in any way. Maybe a one-season ban, two at the most.

my one day team needs a keeper with a bit of mongrel in him. I wonder if the ban extends to wastca