Warner walk-off after ‘hurtful sledge’
SYDNEY: David Warner walked off mid-innings in a Sydney grade game after “hurtful” comments from the brother of ex-Test teammate Phillip Hughes, who died in 2014 after being hit by a ball, his wife claimed Sunday.
The former Australia vicecaptain, who is serving a 12month ban from international and state cricket for his role in a ball-tampering scandal, was batting for his club Randwick-Petersham at the time on Saturday.
He left the field on 35 but returned shortly afterwards following the intervention of teammates, and went on to score a majestic 157.
Candice Warner said Jason Hughes -- the brother of Phillip, whose tragic death rocked the sporting world -- was the culprit.
“Look, I’m not going to go into the details. However, David was taken aback by the comments and thought they went a little bit too far so he decided to remove himself from the game,” she told Channel Nine.
Cricket Australia’s website claimed that what started as goading from Hughes soon turned personal and Warner -- who has a fierce on-field reputation -- decided to leave before it escalated.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph alleged that Hughes called Warner “a disgrace” and “weak” and claimed one witness heard a direct reference to Phillip Hughes’s death. But Hughes’ club Western Suburbs denied any abuse was hurled and defended him.
“There was no barrage of sledges aimed at David Warner by any WSDCC player,” it said in a statement.
“There was a brief exchange between Jason Hughes and David Warner. This exchange had nothing to do with Phil Hughes.
“This exchange was not vicious or abusive as alleged in some sections of the media.”
The umpire’s lodged no report about player behaviour, but Warner’s wife insisted the comments were in the abuse category.
“He removed himself firstly because he didn’t like what he was hearing and where that could’ve been taken. It was hurtful, very hurtful,” she said.
Randwick-Petersham firstgrade manager Bill Anderson told The Telegraph Warner felt the comments were “very offensive to him”.
“But he realised that he had to play. He turned around and back out he went,” he said.
“He wasn’t teary. But you could tell he had been quite affected by that. It wasn’t a heated exchange. It was something said in close range.”
Warner was fielding on November 25, 2014, when Phillip Hughes was struck by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.