AFP

Langer defends Australian appealing

Justin Langer has defended the Australian style of appealing, especially when Shane Warne bowls

AFP
31-Dec-2005


Shane Warne's appealing has not always impressed South Africa © Getty Images
Shane Warne may be pushing the line with his aggressive appealing for wickets, but team-mate Justin Langer, who returns to the Australian side for the final Test at Sydney, says his style provides some of cricket's great theatre.
"It's indicative of his passion for the game," Langer told reporters before leaving Melbourne. "I remember as a kid watching Dennis Lillee appeal. It was one of the great sights of cricket. I used to run around as a 10-year-old, bowl and then appeal like Lillee. He thinks it out and he gives it a big appeal. To me that's just part of the game, part of the great theatre of the great Shane Warne."
Langer said critics had to realise that constant appealing by slow bowlers was part of the game when fielders were crowding around the bat in a tense atmosphere. "When you play on a wicket that is spinning a lot like we saw in Melbourne, there are a lot of people around the bat and there's a lot happening. In the past we've been critical of over-appealing on the subcontinent but if you look at it, that's almost the nature of the game in those circumstances.
"There are people around the bat, there's a lot of action, particularly when you've got class bowlers. India have [Anil] Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, here we have Warnie and [Stuart] MacGill," he added. "It's not a tactic or anything like that. If we see it, we appeal if we think it's out. I don't think we are over-appealing at all. To me it's just a part of the game."
Meanwhile, South African paceman Andre Nel says South Africa may copy Australia's aggressive appealing at Sydney. He said that if Australian bowlers like Warne can get away with it, then maybe South Africa should follow suit.
"I think they are very, very clever about the way they do things with umpires," Nel told reporters at Sydney Airport. "They put a lot of pressure on the umpires and sometimes it counts in their favour. Maybe we can learn something from them in a certain way by doing this. But sometimes they go a bit overboard and it gets a bit annoying, but that's the way they do it and it's working for them."
Nel also said he was looking forward to opening the bowling alongside Shaun Pollock with Makhaya Ntini having been forced home with a knee injury. "It's always nice to get the chance with the new ball and to bowl with Polly," he added. "I'm looking forward to the challenge."