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Delhi, October 25: He might have bit the apple but Adam Gilchrist
wants to return to innocence. The buccaneer Australian
wicketkeeper-batsman, who did the most un-Aussie thing of walking
before the umpire raised his finger during the World Cup in South
Africa, thinks the players have to take some responsibility to
reduce the umpires' pressure. "Our country has been great
promoters of staying there and make the umpires make the decision
... but I think maybe the players should take up some
responsibility," Gilchrist said.
The Australian, who
is part of the team to play the triangular limited overs cricket
series with India and New Zealand, said it was a series of incidents
that prompted him to walk, in the semi-final match against Sri Lanka
early this year. "Certainly I did not go out that day with a
conscious decision to walk. There were a number of events over the
last one year that was starting to frustrate me," Gilchrist
said.
"Players
standing their crease ... I am not pointing to any one player,
certainly our own players have been involved in several incidents.
But it is the third umpire decisions, which could not say definitely
whether there was a nick or catches carried. "Those thoughts
changed my mind. I now believe you can still compete and succeed at
the highest level by playing with integrity."
 Naturally,
the incident during Australia's visit to India in 2001 -- when
Michael Slater picked up an argument with Rahul Dravid and the
umpires when an appeal for caught behind against the Indian was
turned down -- cropped up. "I don't want to pick any one
incident," Gilchrist said. "Dravid in that scenario stood
his ground rightly because the rules said he can. "Michael
(Slater) and other guys were disappointed with the decision, were
gilted up in the heat of the battle and over reacted a little bit.
"The spirit of
the game is to accept the umpire's decision and get on with the
game, which in the end we did. "But, the players have to be
more accountable and responsible and make the decision making for
the umpires that much easier." Gilchrist, however, said the
decision -- to walk or not -- should be an individual one. "I
don't want to get into a campaign and go tell every player to
walk," he said. "It is an individual thing. "It
differs from player to player, even within our team. It is a
decision each player should be comfortable with because there are
lot of things riding on it -- the player's stage of the career, his
mindset and like that." But will he himself walk, if it ever
came to that, again? "I don't think I will nick one
again." (Agencies)
Published:
Saturday, October 25, 2003
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