“Totally and utterly ridiculous”: Footage exposes truth behind English bowler's four-game BBL ban
Sydney Sixers bowler Tom Curran’s four-game suspension for “intimidation or attempted intimidation of an umpire” has been explained, with 7 Cricket revealing the damning footage overnight.
The suspension was revealed on Thursday, with many confused as to what could have caused the hefty ban.
In the footage, the Englishman is shown going through his warmups on the pitch, with the umpire stepping in to tell him to run on the outside of the pitch, rather than straight through it.
“You can run here, not here,” the umpire is heard saying through the stump mic.
The umpire then stands in the bowler’s path on the pitch, blocking his ability to run through it before the game.
Curran however proceeds to do so anyway, forcing the umpire to move aside or get run over.
The vision everyone's been waiting for.
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 21, 2023
This is the series of events that's led to Tom Curran's four-game suspension... pic.twitter.com/CRcBujbIl0
Word for word, Tom Curran to the fourth umpire after he ran past him:
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) December 21, 2023
"If you stand in the way I have nowhere go you f___head." @1116sen @SENBreakfast @SEN_Cricket #BBL13
Cricket Australia has charged him with a Level 3 offence, though the Sixers have challenged the ruling.
Upon seeing the vision for the first time, Channel 7 commentator Jason Richardson was flabbergasted.
“That is totally and utterly ridiculous,” Richardson said on the coverage.
“He’s clearly had a brain fade there. You can’t intimidate an umpire like that.”
Sydney Sixers Head Rachael Haynes however said in a statement that Curran did not intimidate the umpire deliberately.
“Tom and the club maintain that Tom did not knowingly or intentionally intimidate a match official, and on legal advice, we will exercise our right to appeal the decision,” she said.
“We will support Tom during this period and look forward to him returning to the field.”
Commentator and former Sixers bowler Lisa Sthalekar has drawn criticism for defending Curran on the Channel 7 coverage, suggesting that maybe the bowler could not hear the umpire’s request.
“You could hear the ground announcer, there’s a lot of voices, we’ve got the stump mic … there’s a 20 metre (distance),” she said.
The only thing matching the low level of Tom Curran’s act is Lisa Sthalekar’s comments. Pathetic by both. https://t.co/LjQNJp44zm
— Darren Murphy 🏏 (@MrDMurphy) December 21, 2023
Don't know what Lisa Sthalekar was watching but there's only one to blame here........it wasn't the umpire. 🤷 https://t.co/04GWC0CyKb
— Mark Robinson (@mrobinson73) December 21, 2023
Lisa Sthalekar trying to defend Tom Curran is almost as ridiculous and uncalled for as his behaviour here. https://t.co/c8rTgEwaAd
— Proteem Bhaduri (@piquant_prose) December 21, 2023