India A players protested against replaced ball, claims report; Warner, Cowan seek clarity

Sydney: India A players expressed dissatisfaction over the condition of the replaced ball provided during the final day's play against Australia A in their first unofficial Test, a report has claimed, even as David Warner and Ed Cowan have called on Cricket Australia to clarify what transpired.

On the final day of the four-day game in Mackay last week, the umpires provided the Indian players with a different ball to use at the start of play.

The Indian players, particularly Ishan Kishan, were unhappy with the decision with the wicketkeeper-batter terming it "a very stupid decision." A report in Sydney Morning Herald said on Wednesday that the argument from the Indian camp was not about the replacement of the ball but the condition of the ball which was provided as replacement.

"What has not been known before now is that the angst on show from India A, led by Ishan, was not because the ball had been changed," the media house said on its website.

"Instead, it was because the touring team were unhappy with the condition of the replacement ball: a drama, but not a major one, since umpires and players have debated the condition of replacement balls for decades," it added.

The report described umpire Shawn Craig for his "straight shooting" who was heard on the stump mic telling the Indian players, "You scratch it, we change the ball. There will be no more discussion, let's play. This is not a discussion, you will be playing with that ball." Kishan retorted: "So we are going to play with this ball…that's a very stupid decision." Former Australia openers David Warner and Ed Cowan have now called on Cricket Australia to clarify what transpired on the final day of the match at Mackay.

Warner, whose years-long leadership ban has just been lifted by CA, has said the board "squashed" the matter "as quickly as possible" since the Indian senior men's team is bound for a five-Test series Down Under.

"I think the ultimate decision's with CA, isn't it? I think they've obviously squashed it as fast as they could, given that India's coming out here this summer," Warner said.

"But if the umpires deem that something happened, then I'm sure there'll be a follow-up and I think the umpires or the match referee should be standing here answering those questions." "I think the match referee should be coming out and addressing his own staff, who are the umpires, and if they're sticking by the umpire's decisions, then you've got to stand up for that. I think that's obviously a statement that CA probably need to release," he added.

Warner's former opening partner and current board director of the New South Wales Cowan said the reaction perhaps could've been different if the opposition team wasn't India.

"Part of me just thinks if this wasn't India there would be a totally different reaction," Cowan said.

"If that was Pakistan A, or England A, or choose any A team, or even a Shield game, the reaction would be totally different and for me, that's the wrong approach." "To be fair, it's just us joining dots. These dots may be totally incorrect, we'd have imperfect information, but I do think it's on Cricket Australia to clarify this, and it's also probably imperative on the BCCI to clarify this," he said.

Hours after the game finished, CA issued a statement saying, "The ball used in the fourth innings of the match was changed due to deterioration. Both teams' captain and manager were informed of the decision prior to the start of play. No further action is being taken." Under the laws of cricket, a five-run penalty is imposed if the umpires change the ball after determining it has been unfairly altered.

However, CA's playing conditions include an additional clause that allows the umpires to change the ball without applying penalty runs if it's unclear how the ball became damaged. Australia A were not awarded five penalty runs.