By Andrew Gourdie
The petulance shown by a frustrated Australian cricket team during a dramatic end to the first session on Day Four of the second Test deserves every one of the adjectives used to describe the incident.
Ugly. Intolerable. Reprehensible. Disgraceful.
If you haven't seen it, here's the incident.
Where to start? The initial appeal was over the top. Australia's cricketers did not ask the umpire if Kane Williamson was out, but rather - as Mark Richardson rightly pointed out - they demanded his wicket.
When Ranmore Martinesz delivered his not out decision, Josh Hazlewood gave him a stare which was not difficult to interpret. He was incredulous at the perceived incompetence of the man standing before him.
"Don't worry," they thought, "the third umpire will sort this out. Technology will prove us right."
Replays of course then showed us all that the correct decision had been made.
Then it all kicked off.
"What's going on there?" one of the Australian cricketers could be heard as the third umpire communicated his decision to the man in the middle.
Captain Steve Smith marches down the wicket, his teammates close behind, demanding an explanation from umpire Martinesz, who looked like the poor little kid about to be beaten up by the school bullies.
It quickly dawns on Smith that he is in fact the Australian captain, and chooses to instead shake his head in disgust. For all the respect shown to Brendon McCullum in this Test, he showed little for the men supposedly in charge in this instance.
But just when you thought it couldn't get uglier, commentators fall silent and cameras zoom in on Josh Hazlewood, who drops the line for which he will now become infamous: "Who the f*** is third umpire?"
I'm sorry Josh, but who f****** cares? It doesn't matter whether it's Richard Illingworth, Barack Obama, or me, you know why? Because any of us – including all of us watching on TV - could have spotted the small white spot on Kane Williamson's bat which proved you wrong.
The incident offered a revealing insight into the mentality of the players, and one they won't be proud to admit.
The only conclusion that can be drawn from the reaction of the players, is that they simply don't respect the opinion of the person who has hot-spot technology, snicko, and a myriad of slow-motion replays at their fingertips, so they can make the correct decision.
Australia will likely go on to win this Test and the series, but they have lost respect, and certainly some of their match fee, for an incident which will do nothing to enhance the reputation of a team already considered in some quarters as cricket's brat pack.
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