Picture Credit: Cricket Australia
The ongoing season of Sheffield Shield has been nothing short of drama and controversies. After the play was suspended for the day in one of the matches due to uneven bounce on the pitch, an extremely bizarre sequence of events took place during the contest between South Australia and Queensland at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.
It all started after the end of the 8th over when the fielding side were changing the end. During the process, Queensland's Matt Renshaw carried the helmet (of either the keeper or one of the close-in fielders) and took it to the other end which is a common practice in cricket. However, he shockingly kept the helmet at the batting guard of the batsman instead of its usual position of behind the wicketkeeper.
Drama in Sheffield Shield
It was undoubtedly an intentional act by the player, presumably to upset the concentration of the batsman. However, what followed the event left everyone in shock! It looked like the batsman would probably complain to the umpire regarding what Renshaw had done. But South Australia's Jake Weatherald decided to take matters into his own hands.
The left-handed batsman had seen the helmet kept there, way before reaching the batting end. And as soon as Weatherald reached the crease, he kicked the helmet away with a football-like right-foot hit. Although he had all the right to be angry, the reaction was surely not an acceptable one.
The captain of the opposition side - Usman Khawaja - was seen having a slightly angry discussion with Weatherald before the batsman had a talk with the umpire regarding the whole incident.
Watch the video here:
Things calmed down later on but it will be interesting to see if any further action is taken against both the players involved (Renshaw and Weatherald) for their respective acts on the field.