New audio comes to light in David Warner and Matthew Wade incident
With no sanction against David Warner or Matthew Wade for their BBL clash, the sledge that sparked it all has come to light.
David Warner and Matthew Wade's slanging match in the BBL last weekend has taken another turn, with new audio from the match indicating there was more to what was happening than meets the eye. The former Test teammates got caught up in a brief push and shove late in the Hobart Hurricanes' innings against the Sydney Thunder last Sunday.
Warner approached Wade after the former Test wicketkeeper was sledging Thunder skipper Chris Green about his bowling action, which had been ruled illegal earlier in the year. His shove of Wade caught the commentary team off-guard, with a confused Kerry O'Keeffe labelling the action 'inappropriate' before later wondering if it had been a joke between the pair.
INSANE: Matt Renshaw stuns cricket world in 'ridiculous' final-ball moment in BBL
'NOT RIGHT': Cricket world rages over 'ridiculous' Big Bash rule
Unaired audio from the match showed that, despite appearances, it had been a friendly exchange between the former Australian teammates. It had appeared the atmosphere was more tense in the moment, with Hurricanes batsman Tim David also putting his hands on Green to move him away from Wade at one point.
David played down the incident after the match, while neither umpire saw anything of concern either. Green and Wade had been going back and forth for a while, David told Fox Cricket.
“Obviously we know Wadey loves getting into the contest and being a bit feisty,” David said. “Greeny was winding him up. Suggesting I was going to get run out again or another run out. I was just there trying to diffuse it and they were just going at each other a little bit.”
Their body language had been enough to fool O'Keeffe during his own commentary stint - although the well-known jokester suspected there was more to the story, “It’s got very testy out there," he remarked after Warner gave Wade a push.
“That was inappropriate. I don’t know what went on between that pair. Their history goes back a long way as buddies.
“It’s unsavoury. You can’t have contact like that. Whether they were half joking, I don’t know. Their body language suggested not. There was an issue out there.”
No action from Cricket Australia over Wade-Warner BBL shove
On Monday, Cricket Australia confirmed to AAP that the on-field umpire did not lodge a report following the incident and that Warner would not face sanctions for lashing out at Wade. After the game, Green and Wade confirmed they had buried the hatchet, downplaying their confrontation in a joint broadcast interview.
The match was Warner's second since ending a nine-year Big Bash hiatus and joining the Thunder for five games. Cricket Australia needed to subsidise Warner's paycheck with money from its marketing budget but the Test opener played only a small role on Sunday, being bowled for a duck by Riley Meredith.
The Hurricanes had the last laugh with David finishing unbeaten on 76 from 41 balls - his highest BBL score - with six sixes. Quick Nathan Ellis earlier picked up a career-best 4-27 including a hat-trick, which spanned 11 overs.
Ellis, who was named player of the match, became just the second Hurricanes player to take a hat-trick after spinner Xavier Doherty in 2012. Opener Matthew Gilkes was Ellis's first victim on the last ball of the fourth over, before he returned in the 15th with two more.
Thunder top-scorer Davies (45 from 38 balls) fell to a great low catch by Faheem Ashraf, before he bowled Nathan McAndrew for a duck. Fellow quick Riley Meredith (2-14 from four overs) make the early breakthroughs after the Thunder won the toss and batted.
Meredith bowled Warner, playing his second game this season after a nine-year BBL hiatus, for a second-ball duck in the first over.
With AAP
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
