Umpire's concession saves Nash from stronger penalty
Dion Nash’s appeal against his three-game suspension has been denied by New Zealand Cricket’s national commissioner Nick Davidson.Nash will be banned from playing until January 3.Davidson said in his decision that Nash had been cautioned during play on the day previous to the incident in the State Championship Auckland-Otago game in Dunedin.Another warning was given to players on the morning of December 20.”The breaches followed such warning and involved two quite distinct acts,” Davidson commented.”The first was to employ some expression of ‘disappointment’, abusive in some way of the batsman. Whether the expression ‘f… off’ was then directed to the Umpire or batsman is uncertain.”For the player to tell an Umpire to ‘f… off’ would draw a very heavy penalty, well beyond the penalty imposed in this instance.”I have no reason to disbelieve Mr [Dave] Quested [umpire] but he made the very fair concession that the remark may have been directed at the batsman, which saves the player from a heavier penalty.”But this further remark when told that he would be reported, namely, ‘I don’t give a f…’ was contemptuous and dismissive of an experienced Umpire, simply doing his job. It was a complete refutation of his responsibilities as a senior player,” Davidson said.”He followed this up by speaking abusively to [Lee] Germon, accusing him of ‘cheating’ in a crude way. Any suggestion that such remarks directed at an opposition player are legitimate is rejected out of hand,” he said.Davidson said cricket continued to be sullied by overt breaches of the Code of Conduct.”All players throughout New Zealand have been advised that compliance with the Laws and the Code is expected, and respect for opponents, umpires and the game’s values are fundamental,” he said.Players had been made aware that precedents in rulings in earlier seasons would have little bearing on penalties for Code breaches this year.”In this case there were two distinct and serious breaches, involving abuse of another player, and a contemptuous attitude and response to an Umpire. They followed a warning,” Davidson said.”While the Association Commissioner’s Decision is at first sight firm, it cannot be described as severe or excessive and on close analysis I have concluded that it is entirely reasonable and would have been increased, were it not for Mr Quested’s very fair concession on appeal.”Dion Nash can count himself fortunate in that regard.”The directive from New Zealand Cricket is quite clear. A strong stand must be taken against conduct of this kind. The Association Commissioner’s decision reflects that,” he said.In finishing his finding, Davidson drew a line in the sand that will be applied for disciplinary matters in future.”Cricket involves strong contest, often between individual players.”Emotion and disappointment are normal responses. They are to be distinguished from personal abuse, dissent and contempt for umpires,” he said.