Broad causes storm as captain is fined after England defeat
ENGLAND captain Stuart Broad yesterday bemoaned the slap on the wrist he was given by cricket’s authorities for publicly criticising the umpires following defeat to New Zealand in their opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Broad was fined 15 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after expressing annoyance at the decision to continue play during a thunderstorm.
The match was eventually stopped with New Zealand on 52-1 in the sixth over – enough to earn them the points according to the Duckworth-Lewis method. Yet Broad argued that it was dangerous to keep players on the pitch for that long even after lightning had been seen, describing the umpires’ decisions as “distinctly average”.
Broad subsequently admitted to the charge of publicly criticising match officials, yet wrote on Twitter: “Shame to be fined. Back to bland and un-opinionated press conferences I’m afraid.”
The tournament came to life yesterday with Pakistan’s thrilling 16 run victory over Australia. Pakistan reached 191-5 largely thanks to Umar Akmal’s 94 runs off 54 deliveries, before claiming two Aussie wickets in their opening over. Glenn Maxwell hit an astonishing 74 off 33 balls, including six sixes, to give his side a chance, yet in the end they could only reach 175.
In the later game, India cruised to a seven-wicket win over West Indies.
England’s next match is tomorrow against Sri Lanka in Chittagong.