‘Sledging crackdown killing excitement’

Sydney, July 3

Australia’s opening batsman David Warner on Friday insisted that the recent moves by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to crack down on sledging are taking excitement out of the game.

In recent times, Warner has borne the brunt of the governing body’s plan to clean the game up, which chief executive Dave Richardson vocalised ahead of this year’s World Cup.

Twice in the past 18 months the left-hander has been fined for comments both on and off the field. “I’m on my last warning from the ICC. These rules being clamped down now... they’re really keeping players from celebrating wickets and a bit of banter on the field. If you walk towards a player, the umpires are going to fine you, you’ve got to be smart with what you do,” said Warner.

“But you want to see that banter out there. You want the play-and-miss, and the bowler coming down the wicket and giving you a stare. I feel that sometimes it could be taking away from the viewers. You know that when you get out there, the crowd gets into it, they enjoy that stuff,” said the 28-year-old.

Warner also asserted that the nature of the exchanges between the players was misrepresented, explaining that the banter was far less sinister than perhaps made out in the media. “I think everyone sitting behind the TV screens has to realise that... it’s not serious. There are no threats or anything out there… it’s about producing entertainment for people,” he added.

Gambhir gets martial arts, gymnastics in the mix

Perth: Sidelined for more than a year, opener Gautam Gambhir has added mixed martial arts and gymnastics to his training regimen in a bid to come back into the Indian team.

Gambhir, who played the last two of his 56 Test matches in England, was at sea against Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, repeatedly poking outside the off-stump and not even getting a double digit score in his four innings. He was dropped from the team after that forgettable tour.

Gambhir, who has travelled to Australia to fine tune his technique, is training under former Australian cricketers Justin Langer and Geoff Marsh. The most interesting aspect of the training is practising mixed martial arts and gymnastics.

While gymnastics can make ones’ footwork nimble, martial arts can improve the reflex. Footwork and reflex are two essential components, complemented by good balance, to play fast bowling with ease. — Agencies