AUSTRALIA TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2018

'Bullies' Australia are equally guilty: Mark Taylor

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

"Warner told the world what he was going to do and what's more he's gone about and done it, and taken it to another level." © AFP

Mark Taylor, the former Australia captain and Cricket Australia Board director, criticized both Australia and South Africa for the sour taste the series has left despite all the competitive cricket that has been on display. While the four-match Test series is squared 1-1, as many as five players have been charged by the ICC for their conduct on the field, with South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada earning the wrath of the governing body twice, which in turn has landed him with a two-match suspension.

"Both sides should be on their final warnings, and that definitely includes Australia," Taylor told Wide World of Sports on Thursday (March 15). "There's been too much of this in-your-face celebration when batsmen are dismissed, and the Australian bowlers have been as guilty as the South African bowlers at times."

Nathan Lyon received one demerit point for dropping the ball on AB de Villiers after the veteran batsman was run out on Day 4 of the Durban Test. On the same day, a fracas between David Warner and Quinton de Kock took place on their way to the dressing rooms, resulting in three demerit points on the Australian opener's rap sheet while the South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman got one demerit point.

There was more bad blood in the second Test in Port Elizabeth as Rabada was fined 50% of his match fee and hit withthree demerit points after the bowler was foundguilty of inappropriate and deliberate contact with Australia's Steven Smith by match referee Jeff Crowe. Rabada, who is appealing that charge, also accepted a level one charge following a send-off to Warner, which extended his tally of demerit points to nine. Mitchell Marsh also received one demerit point for his misdemeanour in the same game, when he was seen swearing at Rabada.

Vernon Philander had come to the defence of Rabada by mentioning on Twitter that Smith was just as guilty. "Steve Smith gave KG the shoulder. He could have avoided any contact but to me he is just as guilty. Trying some football skills to get a penalty??? Pity he didn't dive to top it off," Philander tweeted. However, the tweet was later deleted with the South African pacer claiming that his account was hacked.

Former captain Ian Chappell had earlier told Channel 9 that Smith and coach Darren Lehmann should shoulder blame for being allowed to display that sort of aggressive behaviour. "I'd like to see those above him suspended for sanctioning it. If you start taking strong action like that then you'll get some sanity," Chappell had said.

Taylor was in agreement with Chappell. "I absolutely agree with that. Unfortunately it's where David Warner has come unstuck, he's actually made a point in recent times of saying that he wants to bring back the old David Warner and get in the face of the opposition. He told the world what he was going to do and what's more he's gone about and done it, and taken it to another level. I'm not suggesting for a minute we have silence out in the middle, but there's no doubt it's getting worse. Bullying is not a bad term for it, and they're using it too much. It just keeps escalating and now it's getting out of hand."

Regarding Rabada's situation, Taylor said the appeal filed by the South Africa pacer wasn't surprising but he felt the shoulder incident was something that could have been avoided. "I'm not surprised South Africa are appealing the suspension because he's obviously a key player for them. Having taking 11 wickets in the last Test they are going to do everything they can to keep him on the field, but he's in trouble because he's already been found guilty. In my mind the contact with Steve Smith in the second Test was avoidable, so that's why he's in trouble."

© Cricbuzz

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