Nothing wrong with showing passion on the field: Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath

In the wake of the recent controversy surrounding David Warner’s behaviour, former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath has said that he would not be amused if he saw youngsters involving themselves in on-field fights, but added he didn’t have any issues with showing emotions on the field.

Warner was involved in a verbal duel with India’s Rohit Sharma at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday and was consequently fined 50% of his match fees for his involvement in the confrontation. He was also given a stern warning by Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive James Sutherland, who asked him to be a role model for kids growing up watching the game.

McGrath added that it is the responsibility of everyone who is running the game to ensure that such incidents are avoided on the playing field.

"Kids shouldn't be doing that on the field anyway. Sometimes I get a bit annoyed with the media focusing on it and making a massive issue of it, and some other teams make an issue that Australians are the biggest sledgers out there when every team does it," McGrath was quoted as saying by the Australian media.

"We all have a role to play in it, but we don't want to see underage kids running around sledging. It's not about abuse, it's not about being too much in your face. You wouldn't want to see the kids sledging like that, that's not what it's about,” he added.

However, the 44-year-old felt that there is nothing wrong if players show their passion on the field, even though the cricketers’ main job on the field is to display their skills with bat and ball.

"It's a fine line sometimes. You want to see the players playing with feeling and that it means something to them. You don't want to see a bunch of robots out there.

"That's why we have the umpires and match referees. If there's an issue, they step in. You want to see some aggression and feeling, but you don't want to see it getting carried away because then it gets ridiculous. The guys are out there with their skill on show and doing their best," he added.