Former England captain and respected commentator Michael Atherton weighed in on the rising tensions during the third Test between India and England at Lord’s, suggesting that while passion is vital in Test cricket, physical altercations have no place on the field. Atherton’s remarks came in response to the heated moment involving Mohammed Siraj and England opener Ben Duckett on Day 4, where Siraj gave the batter a fiery send-off after dismissing him for 12.

In his follow-through, Siraj brushed shoulders with Duckett—an act that led to the Indian pacer being fined 15% of his match fee and handed a demerit point by the ICC.

In his column for The Times, Michael Atherton wrote, “Forgive me for degrading the report of a great match with this nonsense, but wouldn’t spectators rather see players caring too much, rather than too little, about playing Tests?”

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However, he was quick to add that passion should never cross into physicality. “No one, of course, wants to see physical altercations on the field of play, or sustained nasty verbal abuse. There should be no place, for example, for the shoulder barge that Virat Kohli initiated in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last Christmas, when he diverted from his path to deliberately walk into Sam Konstas.”

Atherton also pointed out another intense moment from the Lord’s Test — the mid-pitch collision between Ravindra Jadeja and England’s Brydon Carse. While the clash was unintentional, it only added to the already heated atmosphere of the Test.

“Both players were ball-watching rather than minding each other’s path,” Atherton noted. Drawing parallels with another iconic match at the venue, Atherton compared the thrilling conclusion of the Test to the 2019 World Cup final.

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“Six years ago to the day, Lord’s had witnessed the most remarkable finish to any cricket match… Now the game delivered an extraordinary finish again, with two of the protagonists from that day, Stokes and Jofra Archer, taking centre stage.”

In the end, Atherton’s reflections echoed what many fans and former players feel — intensity is welcome, but respect between opponents must remain intact on the field.