Cricket: Cricketers punished over spat

BLOEMFONTEIN - New Zealand's Craig McMillan and South African captain Shaun Pollock were penalised yesterday for an on-field incident during the fourth day of the first cricket test.

Match referee Naushad Ali fined Pollock 50 per cent of his match fee for contravening the spirit of the game and bringing the game into disrepute, while McMillan was penalised 30 per cent of his match fee for contravening the spirit of the game.

The sanctions were announced at a disciplinary hearing. The players appeared to jostle each other between the wickets late on the fourth day, before continuing with a verbal exchange during the next couple of deliveries.

Neither camp, nor the umpires and match referee, are allowed to comment on the behaviour in question or the penalties imposed.

At the end-of-match press conference, former South African paceman Fanie de Villiers - now a journalist - asked New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming whether he thought the match officials were interfering too much in what was a reasonably minor incident.

Fleming chose not to respond, possibly because McMillan was still waiting to appear at the disciplinary hearing.

But McMillan made his feelings clear before he fronted up to the hearing. "It's always competitive when you play test cricket, it's part of the game that I enjoy and I believe it's the way cricket should be played," he said.

"It's a tough game, things happen out on the field and that's where they should be left - as long as they don't go overboard."