Australia captain Michael Clarke has been fined 20% of his match fee for warning England’s James Anderson to expect a broken arm.
He was found guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct for using language or a gesture that is obscene or insulting.
Clarke, 32, used an obscenity which was picked up by the stump microphone. It was one of several flash points in a bad-tempered first Test as the hosts recorded a 381-run victory in Brisbane. Anderson was preparing to face fast bowler Mitchell Johnson when Clarke made the comments. Australia coach Darren Lehmann said: “I like our boys being aggressive as long as they don’t cross the line – I certainly like to play hard cricket. I’ve no problems with that at all.”It’s always going to be hard-fought between Australia and England. It certainly was in England; that’s not changing here.” Clarke, who was also found to have made inappropriate gestures to Anderson, defended his sledging after the game, dismissing it as “banter”. He said: “Through my career, there has always been banter on the cricket field and I cop as much as I give, that’s for sure. “All the England players know we certainly respect them. I’ve heard a lot worse said on a cricket field than what the Australia players or the England players said throughout this Test match.” In addition to Clarke’s comments to Anderson, opener David Warner was criticised for being “disrespectful” by England captain Alastair Cook. Warner upset England with comments about batsman Jonathan Trott, whose dismissal in the second innings in Brisbane he described as “poor and weak”. “David Warner has the X-factor,” said 43-year-old Lehmann. “He has an opinion. If he has crossed the line, the ICC will deal with it.” Lehmann was full of praise for Johnson, who was named man of the match after taking nine wickets. “Mitchell bowled beautifully here. He was aggressive, he had bounce, he had confidence coming in, so I was really impressed,” said Lehmann. “He’s always going to be occasionally wayward. You accept that. I think that’s the key – you don’t worry about that. You know when he’s good, he’s good and exciting, like he was in this Test match.” – BBC Sport
