News

Haddin calls 'cheat' claims poor and low

Daniel Vettori was disappointed Brad Haddin did not make an effort to prevent Neil Broom from leaving the field in Perth

Cricinfo staff
02-Feb-2009

Brad Haddin's glovework is under the microscope following the opening match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series © Getty Images
 
Daniel Vettori was disappointed Brad Haddin did not make an effort to prevent Neil Broom from leaving the field after the wicketkeeper dislodged the bails in a bowled dismissal in Perth. New Zealand went on to win the game on the last ball, but Broom's exit came at a critical time, ending his 42-run partnership with Ross Taylor.
Haddin's gloves were in front of the stumps and knocked off the bails, with Michael Clarke's delivery also appearing to head over the stumps. Neither umpire noticed Haddin's movement, which should have led to a no-ball, but it was clear on the replay.
"I think you saw from Haddin's reaction that he knew something was wrong so he probably should have made more noise about it," Vettori told NZPA after the win. "It is [disappointing] because I thought that was the partnership that was going to win the game, so it put us under a bit more pressure. We've just got to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Haddin called Vettori's response "poor" and "low", but maintained the ball hit the stumps before his gloves. "I'm pretty disappointed in Dan that he didn't have the decency to come and speak to me after the game if he had an issue with it rather than air his thoughts in a press conference," Haddin told AAP. "I think the polite or the decent thing to do would be to come and ask me. He's played a lot of cricket now and he knows too well what happens with these situations, so I thought it was a bit low. I think it's quite poor."
He said he was unaware at the time that his hands were ahead of the wickets. "After looking at the replay, my hands were in front of the stumps," he said. "But the ball, I'm 100% positive, hit the bails first and then came up into my gloves." Under the Laws, a no-ball should be called if the wicketkeeper does not stay behind the stumps until the ball touches the batsman, passes the stumps, or a run is attempted.
Ponting spoke before he had seen a replay but challenged Vettori to be sure of his Haddin criticism. "It's a bit much, he's basically claiming [Haddin's] a cheat, isn't he? That's a bit strong unless they're 100% certain.
"We'll wait and see. If [a replay] does show anything that Brad is in the clear, I'll certainly be letting Daniel know about it. It's probably worth Haddin having a chat to him as well. He's basically had a bit of a crack at Haddin's make-up."
Haddin told Ponting the ball had hit the top of off stump. "The umpire gave it out and the batsman walked off, and the next I heard of it was when I was asked about it at the end of play," Ponting said. "[Haddin] obviously didn't know, because if he knew then he wouldn't have claimed it. Whatever we're saying about Brad Haddin here, you can't say that knowingly happened, that is for sure."
Ponting's night grew worse when he was fined 20% of his match fee after being two overs behind the required rate. The rest of the team received 10% punishments. Australia get the chance to hit back in the second match of the Chappell-Hadlee Series in Melbourne on Friday.