Australian Warner involved in on-field fracas

PRETORIA, (Reuters) – David Warner allowed his emotions to boil over yesterday when he was involved in an on-field argument with opponent Thami Tsolekile while batting for Australia A against their South African counterparts.

The incident, the latest in a list of public confrontations involving the 26-year-old, comes as he tries to win a recall to Australia’s senior side for the third Ashes test starting at Old Trafford on Aug. 1.

It was serious enough for the umpires to call a halt to the game while they spoke to the pair, with Warner batting in Australia A’s second innings.

It was the second time during his innings of 33 that the umpires had intervened in an altercation between with the players, which had its roots in Friday’s play, when Tsolekile was unhappy at remarks made to him by the Australians as he compiled 159.

The wicketkeeper had to be pulled away from the second incident yesterday by teammate Vaughn van Jaarsveld as the umpires called for calm.

Warner made 193 in the first innings of the match to boost his chances of a recall to the test team.

Australia’s top order has failed to fire during defeats in the opening two tests of the five-test Ashes series and Warner is due to return to the squad in time for the third match.

He was suspended last month for punching English batsman Joe Root in a bar following a Champions Trophy game between the teams.

He was banned until the first test and was not named in the team for the game. He was deemed “in need of match practice and runs in the longer format” and joined the Australia A tour to Zimbabwe and South Africa.

In May, Warner was fined A$5,750 by Cricket Australia for a Twitter outburst against two journalists.