da gbg bet： John Buchanan, the Australian coach, has admitted that his players tend tolose their composure in the heat of battle
Wisden CricInfo Staff13-May-2003John Buchanan, the Australian coach, has admitted that his players tend tolose their composure in the heat of battle. His comments came in the wake ofa bitter confrontation between Glenn McGrath and Ramnaresh Sarwan on thefourth evening of the fourth Test against West Indies at Antigua.”It happens to us occasionally when either individuals or the other sidebasically confronts us in a sense of challenging the emotions of the playersand … we tend to lose our composure,” Buchanan told a Sydney radiostation. “When it happens we tend to move away from game plans and at thatparticular point teams can take advantage of that and that’s partly whathappened today.”There are times where we can’t be the side we’d like to be 100 percent ofthe time. While we would like to do that, we’re actually human, we’refallible.”The incident was sparked off following a remark by Sarwan, which McGraththought had been made about his wife Jane, who is undergoing treatment forcancer. An explosive mid-pitch tirade followed, forcing David Shepherd tointervene.The Australian players sought to play down the incident - Steve Waugh,Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer shook Sarwan’s hand later, while AdamGilchrist told Australian Associated Press that the incident had been blownout of proportion.”It’s no bigger issue than any other moments that get heated and there arecomments made. Some people may want to make a bigger deal of it but it’ssomething we accept playing international cricket that it’s going to happen.But relations between the two sides have been terrific.”The Australian Cricket Board (ACB) was clearly unimpressed by Gilchrist’s argument.James Sutherland, chief executive of the ACB, said that he spoke to Waughand both agreed that the incident bordered on inappropriate behaviour. “It’s all very well to be playing the game in the right spirit when things aregoing your way, but if things are not going your way, that’s when the realtest is on. If you can’t carry yourself in the true spirit of the game at those times, perhaps you need to have a good look at yourself.”Sutherland said that the players need to remind themselves of their responsibilities as Australia’s sporting ambassadors. “They are ambassadors for their country and the game of cricket and they need to carry themselves in an appropriate manner. In this circumstance, there’s no doubt that what I saw on my television this morning was not what I would have liked to have woken up to.”He clarified that the ACB, however, would not be taking any action against McGrath. “The umpires in this game are two very experienced umpires. They know what powers they have under the code of conduct and if they thought it appropriate, I’m sure they would have taken action.”