MUMBAI, (Reuters) – A bizarre episode at the World Cup was finally closed yesterday when Australian Ricky Ponting paid the price for damaging a dressing room television in pique and was reprimanded by the game’s governing body.
After being run out against Zimbabwe, Ponting, 36, threw down a piece of cricket equipment only to see it ricochet and hit the TV screen, causing it to break down.
Incidents of sportsmen losing their cool are hardly rare in sport but under the glare of a large media spotlight following the Feb 19-April 2 tournament, Ponting’s actions were being given increasing prominence.
The International Cricket Council (ICC), deciding that players cannot go around short-circuiting television sets on a whim, duly issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that Ponting had been reprimanded.
Ponting was, it said, guilty of “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match”.
Ponting accepted the verdict without the need for a hearing.
“Ricky knows that his action was in breach of the code, involving a brief moment of frustration,” ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama was quoted as saying.
“That said, it was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice, he apologised shortly after the incident at the ground and immediately agreed to pay for the damage.”
FURTHER CENSURE
Ponting, who as captain has lifted the last two World Cups, escaped any further censure even though he could have been fined up to 50 percent of his match fee, the ICC said.
The incident happened during Australia’s comfortable win on Monday over Zimbabwe shortly after the skipper was run out for 28 in Ahmedabad.
According to reports from various sources at the ground including the local governing body and Cricket Australia, he threw down a piece of equipment on returning to the dressing room — either a glove or a box depending on conflicting accounts — it bounced off his kit bag and hit the corner of the television.
The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA), the owners of the television, had initially alerted the Indian board about the damage caused by Ponting and the matter was escalated to the ICC.
“Ponting did throw his gloves at the television. You can’t see any damage from outside but when you switch it on, there is no picture on three-fourth of the screen,” GCA secretary Rajesh Patel told Reuters by phone on Wednesday.
“We had to replace the television set.”
Ponting was criticised in the India media for the episode but the Australian team spokesman Lachy Patterson said it had been overblown.
“Ricky threw his box (groin protector) into his bag and it flew up into a TV set,” Patterson was quoted as saying in The Australian newspaper.
“It wasn’t smashed. There was a small blackout on one corner of the screen. It was still working when (it was) replaced.”
