In a different hemisphere, the scenes were as dramatic and terse as the last passage of play between India and England on Day 3 at Lord’s. The opening day of the third Test between Australia and West Indies at Sabina Park in Jamaica was equally volatile, with tempers boiling over. The series had come to breaking point several times, but it was when Shamar Joseph dismissed Steve Smith that the veneer of calmness really came off. As Smith was trudging to the pavilion, probably ruing the dismissal, fellow seamer Jaydon Seales ran into his path and celebrated, reportedly mocking him. The umpires subsequently dragged him away and warned him.
The censure, though did not deter him from offering Mitchell Starc a more enthusiastic send off. Castling him for a duck, he screamed at him and pointed towards the dressing room, suggesting him to keep walking. He though later denied the send-off. Starc, though, saw the sporting side and just kept smiling. “No send-off, that was pointed directly towards Alzarri (Joseph). We had a conversation before the delivery. No send-offs,” Seales said.
“I’m not planning to get any fines or push the limits with the umpires anymore, so definitely not crossing that line,” he added, after snaring three wickets for 59 runs on the opening night of the Day and Night Test.
Seales has already been fined 15 percent of his match after he gave Pat Cummins a send-off on the opening day of the first cricket Test against Australia. Send-offs are a thing of the past and strictly forbidden under the ICC’s current laws. Article 2.5 of the ICC’s code of conduct forbids “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon dismissal.”
“In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to the disciplinary record of Seales, for whom it was the second offence in a 24-month period, taking his tally of demerit points in a 24-month period to two,” the governing body said in a statement after the first test match.
Seales may have once again crossed the line; If a player accumulates four demerit points in a 24-month period they receive a ban. Seales could be close to this four-demerit point limit after his two clashes with Smith and Starc this time around.
