Cricket: Waugh in gun over 'brainless' Elworthy quip

By RICHARD BOOCK

Contrary to public opinion, it is not so much Steve Waugh's timing on the field as off it which is causing all the commotion at the moment.

Hardly had the Australian captain fought off his latest band of detractors with consecutive wins in the tri-series, than he was caught up in another row, involving an ill-considered quip at the expense of South African paceman Steve Elworthy.

Struck flush in the side of the head by a fierce Glenn McGrath bouncer during Tuesday's match at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Elworthy was taken to hospital and was discharged only after undergoing a brain scan.

After hearing South African skipper Shaun Pollock tell an after-match press conference that Elworthy had been cleared of any serious injury, Waugh was overheard joking to ACB media manager Brian Murgatroyd: "Yeah, and I bet they didn't find a brain either."

The comment was widely reported in South Africa and roundly condemned by the visiting cricket media, to the extent that the ACB was forced to step into damage-control mode yesterday.

"That fact that the Australian captain was talking at all just a couple of metres from where Pollock was being interviewed revealed a lack of respect hitherto unseen," wrote Neil Manthorp on the Johannesburg Guardian and Daily Mail website.

"The fact that he showed such insensitivity about a potentially life-threatening injury was remarkable."

South African selector Mike Proctor told the Herald-Sun newspaper that the quip had not gone down well with the media or the public.

"When you say it as coldly as that it can come across as a bit offensive," Proctor said. "Knowing Steve Waugh, he's a good guy, but the timing was wrong."

Elworthy was struck above the left ear by a delivery which found its way between the batsman's helmet and protective grille, and although resuming his innings after treatment, was taken to hospital during the tea-break.

He was diagnosed with concussion and was unavailable for comment yesterday.

South African media manager Bronwyn Wilkinson said: "I can accept it was intended as a joke, but the timing and the circumstances were unfortunate."

Waugh was also lying low yesterday, but Murgatroyd endeavoured to clarify the issue, the ACB staffer defending the Australian captain and suggesting the remarks were being misinterpreted.

"Steve is the last person to relish it when a fellow player is injured. He was also the first to Elworthy after he had been hit by the ball."

Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper said the whole business was a storm in a teacup and had been blown out of context.

"Yes, Waugh's comment was silly," it said, "but really, it was just a flippant remark said every day in x-ray clinics across the nation."