New Zealand Cricket has apologised to PCB and has criticised a stadium announcer for ‘taunting’ Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir during the third Twenty20 International at Wellington.
Mark McLeod, who has been NZ cricket’s voice of choice for home games for many years now, played a cash register sound when Amir was bowling during the match in the third T20I.
Due to the incident, NZC CEO David White now has apologised to the Pakistan team and Amir in particular, by publicly scolding McLeod.
“I think (playing the sound effect) was inappropriate and disrespectful, and has the effect of trivialising one of the biggest issues facing cricket at the moment,” White told Fairfax New Zealand after the game.
“I’ve contacted the Pakistan team management to apologise, and to assure them there will be no repeat.”
Amir’s return to the international cricket has been a controversial one as it has divided opinion within the Pakistan team itself with a group of players lead by Mohammad Hafeez and Pakistan ODI skipper Azhar Ali declaring a rebellion in the team. However, the tempers have now cooled down after PCB’s intervention in the matter.
This is not the only thing which humiliated Amir as there were reports of Kiwi fans waving cash at left-arm pacer when he was near the boundary rope during Monday’s ODI at the Basin Reserve. The fans were yelling, “I’ve got a dollar for you”.
On this matter, CEO White wasn’t apologetic at all about the behaviour of fans at the Basin Reserve as he justified it as a bit of ‘banter’ and ‘humour’.
“As opposed to a member of the public in the stands having a bit of banter and humour … it’s different,” White said. “We can’t direct people how to behave all the time.
“There’s a line of drunken disorderly abusive behaviour but stadiums are full of people in groups together, around the world there is banter. I guess there is the line that people need to stay within.”
The 23-year-old is playing his first international series since serving a 5-year suspension and a jail term for his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing saga which saw his then teammates Asif and Butt also being handed out a harsher punishment than Amir.