da realsbet: Tempers flared when New Zealand lost a wicket to a run-out after a mid-pitch collision involving Ryan Sidebottom. The papers were full of it the day after

da betway: 27-Jun-2008

‘Think carefully about your next move’ © AFP
“I’ve never been in that situation before. I don’t think I’ve even been on the field as a player [when a decision like that has been made]. In hindsight I wish I had called him back.
“I said to Paul, ‘Are you sure you want to uphold this appeal bearing in mind the spirit of the game?’. I tried to give him some time by going over to Steve Davis at square leg while Grant Elliott was being treated. I didn’t want to pressurise him into a decision. I’m not going to say whether he did the right thing. That’s up to him.”
“I was incensed with what happened and the whole group of players were. We couldn’t understand it, sitting up there on the balcony… But Paul has come and spoken to us, apologised and acted in a contrite way. We’ll move on from the situation and hopefully it doesn’t happen again… That match was as tense as it gets and we were apologetic for maybe the way we acted on the balcony.”
“This was the worst incident involving an England captain since Mike Gatting argued with umpire Shakoor Rana 21 years ago and Paul Collingwood’s reputation may be sullied forever.”
Daily Mail”If there has been good feeling between these two sides, it’s gone. It’s gone in that moment.
“Imagine, though, if England had won. It is difficult to imagine how Collingwood could have apologised with a straight face; difficult, too, to envisage how the New Zealanders might have felt able to accept it.
“Collingwood could have said it was an unfair call, but he was in his rights to throw it over to the umpires… It’s not like the players make the rules – they don’t give themselves out, the umpires are there to do that.”
“When a man as decent as Paul Collingwood gets drawn into temporarily seeking a win at all costs, it is just further confirmation that cricket has sacrificed any right to the moral high ground.”
“This was a match that will be remembered for England cocking a snook at the spirit of the game, something enshrined within the law.”
“I feel for both sides in terms of what has been going on, I think both have been quite manly in terms of apologising and I think in general all of us are trying to make the spirit of cricket better and I think it’s a responsibility we all have.”

Special Offer

Claim your exclusive bonus now! Click below to continue.