Melbourne, July 13: Australia would have employed similar stalling tactics to England’s final-wicket pairing in Cardiff had they been the team fighting for a draw, according to Nathan Hauritz.
As Australia pressed for victory and England scrambled to save the match, the hosts sent 12th man Bilal Shafayat, and physiotherapist Steve McCaig out to the centre in the 102nd and 103rd overs in an apparent time-wasting tactic described by Ricky Ponting as “pretty ordinary”.
Ponting suggested Jeff Crowe, the ICC match referee, should review England’s final session tactics, however umpires Aleem Dar and Billy Doctrove have effectively ended the matter by not filing a code of conduct report. Hauritz, the Australian spinner, also sought to defuse the situation by stating that he would also have attempted to delay proceedings had he been in a similar situation to Anderson and Panesar.
“I wouldn’t be facing up as quickly every ball,” Hauritz said. “It’s an extremely nervous situation and that one wicket determines the 1-0 or 0-0 scoreline. They did their job. If I’m in that situation and I call for gloves, they won’t care.”
Hauritz did not feel England breached the spirit of cricket guidelines. “Definitely not,” he said. “At the end of the day they had to last, to survive for the last 60-odd balls and they faced out the overs. People could say we were rushing through our overs to get more at them. So I don’t think anything has been made out of it by us, it’s dead and buried.”
There were a couple of heated exchanges on the final day, which started with Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson having a run-in during the warm-up. Stuart Broad, the England batsman, also bumped shoulders with Peter Siddle during the afternoon and there were more verbal exchanges between Ponting and Shafayat over his running out of batting gloves to Anderson and Panesar.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Hauritz said of the intensity of the first Test. “In 2005, Australia said they were too chummy with the English at times, and people said the English got under our skins. I think it’s fantastic for the game to see the battle on the field. You’re going out there to win the urn and it’s an amazing adrenalin rush when you’re in front of the crowd. It’s great for the game. Those battles will continue through the series.”
—–Agencies