The English media came down hard on Australia’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Phillip-Hughes-c2185 on Wednesday, when he claimed a low catch of English opener Alastair Cook that turned out to be a drop.
Former English great, Ian Botham was Hughes’ strongest critic. The Englishman was furious after replays showed that the ball had clearly bounced before it landed in the Australian’s palms.
Botham, who is now a commentator called Hughes a cheat. He said, "Terrible. Cheating. How much do you want it to bounce into your hands?"
The 22-year old Australian caught the ball when Cook clipped it, and before he could claim the catch, his teammates started cheering. Hughes got caught up in the heat of the moment and refrained from revealing that he didn’t get a clean catch.
However, Alastair Cook, who was on 99 at this moment refused to budge and stood his ground. Clearly, Cook knew that the ball had bounced before being picked up.
The umpires then had to take the help of the replay to confirm whether the catch had been taken or not. According to the replays, Hughes had not taken the catch and Cook thus managed to stay on the wicket and prolong the agony of the Australians. Cook then
went on to score 189 runs playing a huge role in England's 488 runs on the third day of the fifth Test of the Ashes in Sydney.
The English media didn’t show any mercy towards the young Australian and labelled him with all sorts of names.
The Daily Mail carried a headline that stated “CAUGHT OUT! Phil Hughes is the Aussie rotter on a day of otherwise human decency.”
"Memo to Phil Hughes: sledging we can handle, cheating we can do without", wrote
The Mail.
It seems as if the English media was craving for a chance to pin the Australians down the moment they did something distasteful on the field and Hughes just gave them what they had wanted.
Tags: