Sydney Sixers import Tom Curran’s four-match suspension for umpire intimidation has been upheld by Cricket Australia, after the Big Bash League club’s appeal against the sanction was dismissed.
The Englishman was hit with a significant ban after a heated clash with umpire Muhammad Qureshi before the team’s clash with the Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston on December 11. In footage released late Thursday night, Curran was involved in an altercation with the umpire after completing a practice bowling run-up in which he ran onto the pitch. He was instructed not to enter the pitch, then went to the other end to complete another practice run-up, in the process running directly at Qureshi who had moved to block his path.
In upholding the sanction, BBL general manager Alistair Dobson said it was ‘essential they [umpires] are respected and appreciated by players at all levels of the game’. “Umpires are part of the lifeblood of cricket and it is essential they are respected and appreciated by players at all levels of the game,” Dobson said in a statement. “We acknowledge the remorse Tom’s shown following the appeal and look forward to seeing him back in Sixers colours. ‘Tom has been a long-time contributor to the BBL and is a clear fan-favourite and someone we hope will continue to play an integral role in the competition moving forward.” Earlier, former Australian great Mark Waugh called for Curran’s ban to be reduced. While Waugh admitted the incident was ‘silly’, he believed a four-match suspension, which sidelines Curran until mid-January, is an excessive penalty for one of the BBL’s marquee stars. It’s a Level 3 offence, intimidating an umpire,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket. “It was silly, there was no need for it, but I think four games is a bit too much. “For a marquee player, really good player… I would have given him two games and put him on a suspended sentence if he does it again. Then a more severe punishment. So yeah, I would say two games rather than four.”
Another former Aussie great in Brad Hogg found fault in Qureshi’s conduct during the incident, saying the umpire seemed to be ‘looking for confrontation’ and should have done more to cool things down. “Not Tom’s brightest moment but the umpires at fault to, rather than walking closer to Tom in a non confrontational manner with a smile to de-escalate the situation he stood in an intimidating manner seeming looking for confrontation.” Sixers captain Moises Henriques has also gone in to bat for Curran, claiming the ban amounts to character assassination. Speaking before play began on Friday, Henriques said the playing group had rallied behind the English all-rounder in the days since the incident. “It’s been a pretty tough time for TC (Curran) over the past 11 or 12 days sitting on this,” Henriques told Fox Cricket. “Knowing what he’s like, he’s taken this to heart and he’s really worried about the assassination of his character. “(Umpire intimidation is) a big claim, so I’m wishing him the best.” Henriques believed footage of the incident lacked context, and he was confused about the decision to impose such a long ban. “I’m very surprised,” he said. “We obviously don’t condone any untoward behaviour towards the umpire or any umpiring staff, but I still can’t quite understand the decision. “(Curran) is a great man. He’s a real leader in the community, he’s a leader amongst our team. I’m still struggling to comprehend that penalty for what he’s done.” The Sixers hope to have Curran back to face the Melbourne Stars on Boxing Day.
Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley refused to comment on the specifics of the incident when pressed on Friday, but warned players they needed to respect match officials. “My feeling is that players really need to respect the umpires and the match referees,” he said. “I think that those processes are in place for good reason, and my overarching message to everybody, and this is not just at the elite level, but at the community level where many of the umpires and officials give their time as volunteers. “Respect is fundamental to the spirit of cricket and it’s fundamental to the laws of the game. Players are role models in society and it’s really important they show respect.” © AAP // This is called with the results from from FB.getLoginStatus(). var aslAccessToken = ”; var aslPlatform = ”; function statusChangeCallback(response) console.log(response); if (response.status === ‘connected’) if(response.authResponse && response.authResponse.accessToken && response.authResponse.accessToken != ”) aslAccessToken = response.authResponse.accessToken; aslPlatform = ‘facebook’; tryLoginRegister(aslAccessToken, aslPlatform, ”); else // The person is not logged into your app or we are unable to tell. console.log(‘Please log ‘ + ‘into this app.’); function cancelLoginPermissionsPrompt() document.querySelector(“#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions”).classList.add(‘u-d-none’); document.querySelector(“#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions”).classList.add(‘u-d-none’); document.querySelector(“#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper”).classList.remove(‘u-d-none’); document.querySelector(“#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper”).classList.remove(‘u-d-none’); function loginStateSecondChance() cancelLoginPermissionsPrompt(); FB.login( function(response) , scope: ’email’, auth_type: ‘rerequest’ ); // This function is called when someone finishes with the Login // Button. See the onlogin handler attached to it in the sample // code below. function checkLoginState() { FB.getLoginStatus(function(response) var permissions = null; FB.api(‘/me/permissions’, access_token: response.authResponse.accessToken, , function(response2) if(response2.data) permissions = response2.data; else permissions = []; var emailPermissionGranted = false; for(var x = 0; x < permissions.length; x++) if(permissions[x].permission === 'email' && permissions[x].status === 'granted') emailPermissionGranted = true; if(emailPermissionGranted) statusChangeCallback(response); else document.querySelector("#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions").classList.remove('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions").classList.remove('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper").classList.add('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper").classList.add('u-d-none'); ); ); } window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init( appId : 392528701662435, cookie : true, xfbml : true, version : 'v3.3' ); FB.AppEvents.logPageView(); FB.Event.subscribe('auth.login', function(response) var permissions = null; FB.api('/me/permissions', access_token: response.authResponse.accessToken, , function(response2) if(response2.data) permissions = response2.data; else permissions = []; var emailPermissionGranted = false; for(var x = 0; x < permissions.length; x++) if(permissions[x].permission === 'email' && permissions[x].status === 'granted') emailPermissionGranted = true; if(emailPermissionGranted) statusChangeCallback(response); else document.querySelector("#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions").classList.remove('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper__permissions").classList.remove('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-login-dropdown-options-wrapper").classList.add('u-d-none'); document.querySelector("#pm-register-dropdown-options-wrapper").classList.add('u-d-none'); ); ); }; (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1666565010224612'); fbq('track', 'PageView');