‘F***ing coward’: tempers flare in one-day final
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The Australian cricket team has been left fuming after a hostile finish to the trans-Tasman ODI series in Hamilton.
Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh was controversially dismissed on Monday night, when a replay on the big screen prompted umpire Ian Gould to call on third umpire S Ravi to review a catch.
Gould was initially confident New Zealand hadn’t appealed but Brendon McCullum successfully convinced him otherwise, and Marsh was given out.
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Marsh appeared to yell “f***ing bull****” in the direction of McCullum and the celebrating Blackcaps as he stormed off Seddon Park.
Matthew Wade later had a shot at NZ allrounder Grant Elliott, saying “only a f***ing coward sledges people when they walk off”.
The incident will dominate the wash-up of the Blackcaps’ 55-run win, which sealed a 2-1 series victory.
“A bit of controversy there. I don’t think there was much of an appeal … it wasn’t until they saw something on the big screen,” Smith said in a post-match interview.
Smith said he was disappointed that the dismissal happened in the way it did, and indicated he did not agree.
However, Smith doesn’t expect any additional animosity when the first Test starts in three days at Wellington.
“I don’t think so, we always play a pretty good brand of cricket – both sides do,” Smith said.
“It’s going to be a great series, New Zealand have been playing some very good cricket at home and we’ve got to improve the cricket we play away from home.
“It should be a really hard-fought series.”
McCullum downplays Marsh incident
New Zealand’s outgoing skipper tried to calm tensions between the sides.
“It definitely wasn’t heated between us,” he said. “I get on really well with Mitch as well, and also Wadey. ”
“There was definitely no animosity or choice words spoken out there. It was more just discussing the process, that it just wasn’t ideal overall.”
McCullum agreed with Smith that it should be a cracking Test series, also hinting that those predicting green seamers at Basin Reserve and Hagley Oval are likely to be spot on.
“The wickets [for the Tests] will be different [to the ODI decks],” NZ’s outgoing skipper said. ”They’ll have a little bit more of a tinge of green to them. ”
There should be plenty of sideways movement. I expect probably a bit more pace and bounce than what we’ve seen in the one-day wickets.”
Both squads will assemble in Wellington on Tuesday, with coach Darren Lehmann and a handful of Australia’s Test players having already trained on Monday.
Australia will reclaim the No.1 Test ranking if they’re able to defeat NZ 1-0 or 2-0 in the upcoming series.
