Australian cricket team is not happy with the stump microphones that captures players’ words who are front on it. Before the start of the four-match Test series against the hosts South Africa, Steven Smith leading Australian team requested to turn off the stump microphones but that was ignored. So, now the Australian players decided to make the protest on it.
On the day 2 of the ongoing first Test, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine said, “Well done! Earning yourself an XXXX, it’s the best beer in the world.”
“How good is Qantas?” another Australian player asked an umpire.
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Before the beginning of this Test series, Australian cricket team had requested the host broadcaster and the match officials to turn off the stump microphone in between the deliveries as per ICC guidelines. But that request was ignored and that made unhappy to the Australian cricketers.
This is not the first time when Australian cricketers showed this kind of unique protest against the stump microphones. In a Test match against Bangladesh in 2006, Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist had made the similar kind of the protest that was done by Tim Paine in the ongoing Test match.
Talking about this, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon looked totally unhappy as he said, “What happens on the field stays on the field. We’re all grown men. We compete hard. We know where the line is. We headbutt it probably, but we are not going to go over the line.”
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Another Australian cricketer Mitchell Marsh denied calling it protest. The Aussie all-rounder said, “I wouldn’t say it was a protest. I’d say it was a great opportunity to give our sponsors a bit of a plug. Qantas, thank you for getting us here safely. The stump mics really, for us players on the field, are irrelevant.”
Marsh added, “It’s about us as a team getting the ball in the right areas and we don’t really worry about that, it was a bit of a joke to give the sponsors a bit of a plug.”
