[CRICKET] Ponting & Warne fight

[jerry]

Australia rocked by Warne and Ponting bust-up

Warne and Ponting: not on best of terms

As if the prospect of a 2-1 series deficit wasn't enough to unsettle the Australian camp, it transpires that the pressure of the past two weeks has got to two key members of their squad. According to a report in The Mail on Sunday, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting were involved in a stand-up row during the second Test defeat at Edgbaston, and had to separated by the vice-captain, Adam Gilchrist.

However, Gilchrist said the mood in the team was "pretty good". "We're under siege a little bit," he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "The crowd are all over us and the press have started again and there's something in today's papers that is an absolute fabrication and totally made up. I don't know where people make up these lies but we know that's the way this machine operates."

The row, which the London-based paper said took place in the dressing-room and could be overheard by the England team next door, stemmed directly from Ponting's decision to bowl first in that match. In Glenn McGrath's last-minute absence, Warne was his side's most likely matchwinner and would therefore have benefited from last use of a turning track.

He went onto take ten wickets, including a magnificent 6 for 46 in the second innings, but at the close of play on the penultimate day, he gave an indication of his sour mood at the end-of-day press conference. "To take 10 wickets in the match doesn't mean anything if you lose," he told reporters. "I don't like using the word hate, but I hate losing."

Warne's mood had not improved over the weekend, added the paper, and he was also alleged to have sworn at autograph hunters in the team hotel. And things got significantly worse for him on the fourth day at Old Trafford, where he missed out a maiden Test century, allowed a catch to pass straight between himself and Ponting in the slip cordon, and then watched Gilchrist miss two stumpings off his bowling.

Warne is regarded in some quarters as the best captain that Australia never had, while Ponting has come under increasing criticism for his lack of tactical nous. And for a side that has always prided itself on team unity, the cracks in Australia's morale were becoming distinctly visible by the end of England's second innings.

Source

What the **** ? :huh: They should take their personal issues out of the game and dont screw their own teammates cause their performance is already nothing worth of writing home about. :whistle:

[clinton1234]

yup dude, what i find different about this team......is the lack of pride......i see the arrogance, but i dont see the pride...