March 19, 2003	Wednesday	Muharram 15, 1424

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PORT ELIZABETH, March 18: Victorious Australia captain Ricky Ponting said he had no plans to encourage his players to walk after Adam Gilchrist gave himself out in the semifinal against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Gilchrist headed back to the pavilion without waiting for the umpire’s decision after getting an edge to a sweep shot and seeing the ball loop to wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.

“He knew he had got a bat on it and didn’t bother looking at the umpire,” Ponting told a news conference after Australia’s 48-win in the rain-affected match.

“He just turned and walked off. I think all of us were surprised in the dressing room. I won’t be encouraging any of our batsmen to do it. No, it’s up to them.

“I won’t tell any of our batsmen what to do. To walk or not to walk, it’s how they see it on the day.”

Umpire Rudi Koertzen had appeared to mouth ‘not out’ after the incident, which left Australia on 34 for one.

Ponting, however, said Gilchrist had not been aware of the umpire’s decision.

“Talking to Gilly after that, he just didn’t see Rudi Koertzen say not out.”

Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva, who was bowling, confirmed that the umpire had turned down his appeal but still praised Gilchrist’s sportsmanship.

“It was a good gesture on Gilchrist’s part,” he said. “It’s very rare nowadays to see a batsman walking off.

“Brian Lara does it all the time. I think there are still some gentlemen in the game.”

Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya added: “We thought it was out...and he walked off. We were very pleased but he would have felt it (the edge).”

De Silva also walked after edging a catch against Zimbabwe on Saturday.

It was Australia, under Ian Chappell in the mid-1970s, who were widely credited with starting the trend of not walking, even when the batsman knew he was out.

Chappell’s attitude was that it was the umpire’s job to make the decision.

While other sports, such as golf and snooker, commonly see competitors call fouls against themselves, cricket has slipped down that fair-play scale.—Reuters