Former England captain Michael Atherton has spoken up after Mohammad Siraj was fined a demerit point for his animated celebration at Ben Duckett during the Lord’s Test.
In his column for The Times, Atherton highlighted the need to differentiate between “passionate expressions” and “nastiness” on the field. “… wouldn’t spectators rather see players caring too much, rather than too little about playing Test cricket; caring too much, rather than too little, about playing for their country?” he wrote.
Atherton highlights difference between Kohli’s act and Siraj’s passion
Atherton then brought up Virat Kohli’s shoulder barge with Australian debutant Sam Konstas during the Boxing Day Test last December.
“There should be no place, for example, for the shoulder barge that Virat Kohli initiated in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last Christmas, when he diverted from his path to deliberately walk into Sam Konstas. No one, of course, wants to see physical altercations on the field of play, or sustained nasty verbal abuse. But here there was none of that here, except two teams full of passionate intensity, commitment and skill. What a Test match they gave us,” he wrote.
The ICC rules clearly state, “Any form of inappropriate physical contact is prohibited in cricket…”
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting had said, “Virat walked one whole pitch over to his right and instigated that confrontation.” Kerry O’Keeffe added, “Kohli has built his whole career on arrogance…”
Atherton concluded: “Now the game delivered an extraordinary finish again… it doesn’t often get as tight as a 22-run winning margin.”
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