CA bats for Gilchrist

Cricket Australia has shot back at its Sri Lankan counterpart for terming Adam Gilchrist’s squash ball tactic as “unethical” and defended their vice-captain as a “highly principled man”.

CA spokesman Peter Young refused to admit that Gilchrist gained an unfair advantage by batting with a squash ball in his glove when he scored a match-winning 149 in the World Cup final. “He (Gilchrist) is a highly principled person. You’re going to have to go a long way before you find a cricketer who has higher moral standards than Adam Gilchrist,” he was quoted as saying by The Age.

Meanwhile, the MCC said Gilchrist had not acted against the laws or spirit of the game. “Gilchrist’s use of a squash ball was designed to alter his grip on the bat whilst at the crease, something which he was perfectly entitled to do,” MCC said in a statement today.