Dwayne Bravo "catches" Michael Yardy
Oh gosh Dwayne, yuh make meh shame yesterday. I mean really, dread. Was that necessary? So I’m not sure how many of you got to watch the West Indies play their final group game of the ICC Champions Trophy yesterday against England, but there was an incident yesterday involving Dwayne Bravo that I’d rather just forget.
 |
| Dwayne Bravo |
England’s innings, Michael Yardy is at the crease and Marlon Samuels has the ball. Yardy lofts Samuel over to somewhere around long on. Bravo runs for it and slides and seems to come down with it. He lies face down on the outfield with his arms underneath him which can be construed either as a silent celebration or self-disgust depending on how you look at it. After a few seconds he gets up and he doesn’t wave off the catch or smile to acknowledge it. He does however look very much like a man who just found a fat wallet in the bushes and doesn’t know whether he should keep it for turn it in to the police.
So he walks towards the pitch like an FBI agent - neither confirming nor denying. Before he could get there, Lara approaches him and seemingly asks him whether or not he caught it to which Bravo seemingly nods “yes”. All this time the umpire has already signalled the fall of the wicket, and Michael Yardy has already walked off the pitch.
However television replays on the big maco screens surrounding the big maco playing field show that Dwayne Bravo did not in fact catch the ball. What it shows is that Bravo is either too slow off the mark or the ball is simply uncatchable. Bravo slides, misses the ball completely, the ball drops to the ground, bounces and falls into Bravo’s grasp. Hmmm.
After that incident I ceased to care about the outcome of the match. We had already qualified for the semi-finals anyway, but if we won this match it would have been said that we won because Bravo cheated for us - something that would have been very hard to argue. But it was most disappointing because although the West Indies have been bad over the last fifteen years or so, no one could say that we were cheaters. Whether or not we batted or bowled poorly, we played our game right.
We all knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of a cheat especially in the late 90’s when Jeff Healy was at the stumps for Australia. To my memory he claimed at least one bump ball catch and on one occasion stumped Lara when the ball wasn’t even in his gloves. So I wonder especially how Lara felt after seeing the replay. I wonder if he feels betrayed.
Afer the game Bravo was interviewed and said about the catch,
“I thought I had it clean but after coming back in dressing room and seeing the replay I saw the ball bounce before it got to my hands. I immediately went to the England dressing room and apologized to Michael Yardy because I really did not know the ball had bounced. He understood and accepted my apology. While taking the catch my eyes was not on the ball because I was diving and I did not see the ball hit the ground. Naturally I feel bad about it because it is not something that I would ever do intentionally and it is not something that is part of my game. If I knew the ball had bounced while taking the catch I would have told the skipper right away.”
Now, I’ve been watching Bravo play cricket for a long time now, and I’ve seen his celebrations, and that face down in the turf thing coupled with the guilty expression is definitely not the Bravo I know. I strongly suspect he knew that his catch was not clean hence why he waited to see what the umpire did before he showed his hand. I’m not sure how exactly he “did not know the ball had bounced”. Whether or not he was watching the ball, can’t he distinguish whether the ball comes into his hands from above or below?
I tried to Google the incident but only one other website I found mentions it at all. CNC3 didn’t even mention it in last night’s sportscast. Hmm. I wonder if they would have mentioned it if it were the other way around and it was Andrew Flintoff who claimed a bump ball catch to dismiss darling Lara. I’d like to say “no” but I’m not delusional.
*Addendum - Bravo was charged with failing to ‘conduct play within the spirit of the game’ and was today cleared of all charges by match referee Mike Procter saying,
“From my experience as a player I know that can happen, but we needed to ask the question to make sure it was a genuine mistake by the player.“For that reason the umpires were right to lay the charge but after we all talked it through I had no reason to disbelieve Dwayne’s version of events.”
I’m not as convinced though. For me, the guilty look speaks volumes more than the explanation.
10 Responses to “Dwayne Bravo "catches" Michael Yardy”
By Hottie Hottie on Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
I doh really follow cricket and I mostly commenting as is you and yuh blog was down two days now. But I’m a bit unsure myself how one can be running to catch a ball - which operates on the premise of WATCHING THE BALL AT ALL TIMES - and not notice if it bounced. I feeling heavy after that smelter thing Mani. If I eh comment for the rest of the night doh study it. Enjoy de rest of yuh evening.
By Vami on Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
I agree with you on the dishonesty part but no matter what, he still came out and apologized. he should have been honest in the beginning but I give him some props here.
By a chic fro on Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
Nah boy Mani, if yuh watch de clip Bravo eh look down at his hands yet. And he was big enough tuh apologize about it man.
By Mani on Oct 30, 2006 | Reply
Well I agree he apologised about it and that’s all well and good. My reason for thinking he knew it wasn’t a clean catch was the whole body language after the catch. He looked like a very guilty man. But the thing is, whether he did it unknowingly then apologised or did it knowingly then apologised, the fact remains that the deed was already done, the wicket was already taken and apologising wasn’t going to bring it back. Had England lost the game, I don’t think an apology would have sufficed. Of course he’s going to apologise when it’s on tape - it’s no skin of his back. It’s the least he could do to save face.
By Anonymous on Oct 31, 2006 | Reply
*tut tut Bravo* Cricket is a gentleman’s game.. maybe he needs a reminder.
By Sanjiva on Oct 31, 2006 | Reply
Glad you brought this up because it has been on my mind too. In the early 90s when Australia was playing in the West Indies, Steve Waugh had a similar catch while Lara was batting. Waugh celebrated and Lara walked (as he always does). TV replays showed that it had bounced and Waugh caught it on the half volley. I wondered back then if it’s possible to take a catch like that and be unaware if you caught it cleanly, or on the half volley, and I think the answer is yes. If you throw a ball against a wall and (I had time on my hands) try to catch it in that way, you’ll see what I mean.
Having said all that, I understand that your point is about Bravo’s body language, and all I can say is that if Bravo KNEW that it had bounced, it’s very disappointing. Fact of the matter is that we’ll never know.
P.S. Wicketkeeper’s name was Ian Healy
By ttfootball on Oct 31, 2006 | Reply
Yes is true he look really suspect, he didnt celebrate like he usually does. If he wasnt sure then he shoulda say so and let the replay decide
By Mani on Nov 2, 2006 | Reply
Spice, is the young people today.
Sanjiva, I’ll take your word for it if you say it’s hard to tell, but still for me it boils down to the body language. Ian healy, that’s the man.
ttfootball, yeah exactly. I hope it’s a mistake he never makes again. I know it must have been a split second decision for him to decide whether to claim it or wave it off. I’m just sorry he chose the former.
By TriniOne on Nov 4, 2006 | Reply
Oh, give me a break! Have any of you ever played cricket? Or even a game where you had to catch a small ball?
It is VERY EASY to not know if you actually caught a ball that is close to the ground. That is why there is an UMPIRE and actually, in professional international cricket there is a 3rd umpire!
Good grief! In any event it is not up to Bravo or any other player to adjudicate - that’s the umpire’s job isn’t it.
I say FINALLY! Finally the West Indies cricketers have decided that their job is NOT to adjudicate but to play cricket!
Play cricket and let the umpires judge the game - that is what everyone else has been doing for what … 200 years now.
Also, there are so many occassions that decisions go against the West Indies. The most obvious decisions are simply shrugged off by opposition players and umpires alike and we accept it and move on. So what’s the big deal - there is nothing to feel ‘ashamed’ about.
By Mani on Nov 4, 2006 | Reply
trinione, I admit it’s possible not to be sure, but my issue with him was the guilt tatooed all over his face after he took the catch. And yeah it’s not his duty to adjudicate whether or not it was clean, but that doesn’t mean he should throw honesty to the wind and play the game any old how. I still think that he knew.