Hampshire v Lancashire, The Rose Bowl, 4th day

Warne's frustrations boil over

Cricinfo staff

September 23, 2006

Shane Warne has a discussion with Neil Mallender as the situation grew farcical © Getty Images

Lancashire had already lost out on the title to Sussex, but they had made their runners-up position safe earlier in this game when Hampshire failed to secure maximum bonus points. Warne clearly hoped that there would be a declaration and a run chase, but Mark Chilton opted to bat on as Lancashire ended the day on 339 for 6, a lead of 562.

Warne, however, did not appreciate the thinking behind the decision. "Coming into the day and after losing a day through rain, we thought we were going to get a game. It got to the stage where they were 430 ahead with 60 overs left and still didn't declare. It was ridiculous. I started throwing some lob-ups to see if they wanted any more runs but that didn't work."

Shortly after lunch there was a surreal five-over period where Warne and others deliberately offered up a series of ridiculous deliveries in an apparent protest. Warne himself sent down a succession of bouncers and was no-balled for throwing the ball from a standing start.

Chilton admitted that he perhaps should have done more to make a game of it. "We definitely didn't want to lose the game so we were going to bat ourselves into a very strong position," he said. "After lunch there was a window of opportunity in which we could, and should have perhaps, declared. But after Hampshire started throwing the bowl 20 feet into the air we decided it would be inappropriate.

"I'm not proud of what happened but I feel sorry for all the spectators that made the journey and I hope this doesn't cloud what has been a great season for us. If I could have the time again, I would have done it differently and I will learn from things like this."

Warne, meanwhile, said that the umpires had congratulated his side on their conduct. "We did everything we could to get a game but I was disappointed for the crowd who had come to see what happened."

© Cricinfo

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Matches

Hampshire v Lancashire at Southampton

Players/Umpires

Mark Chilton

Shane Warne

Series/Tournaments

County Championship Division One

Teams

England

Hampshire

Lancashire