SYDNEY: David Warner walked off mid-innings in a Sydney grade game after ‘hurtful’ comments from the brother of ex-Test team-mate Phillip Hughes, who died in 2014 after being hit by a ball, his wife claimed on Sunday.

The former Australia vice-captain, who is serving a 12-month ban from international and state cricket for his role in a ball-tampering scandal, was batting for his club Randwick-Petersham at the time on Saturday.

He left the field on 35 but returned shortly afterwards following the intervention of teammates, and went on to score a majestic 157.

Candice Warner said Jason Hughes — the brother of Phillip, whose tragic death rocked the sporting world — was the culprit.

“Look, I’m not going to go into the details. However, David was taken aback by the comments and thought they went a little bit too far so he decided to remove himself from the game,” she told Channel Nine.

Cricket Australia’s website claimed that what started as goading from Hughes soon turned personal and Warner — who has a fierce on-field reputation — decided to leave before it escalated.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph alleged that Hughes called Warner ‘a disgrace’ and ‘weak’ and claimed one witness heard a direct reference to Phillip Hughes’s death.

But Hughes’ club Western Suburbs denied any abuse was hurled and defended him.

“There was no barrage of sledges aimed at David Warner by any WSDCC player,” it said in a statement. “There was a brief exchange between Jason Hughes and David Warner. This exchange had nothing to do with Phil Hughes.

“This exchange was not vicious or abusive as alleged in some sections of the media.”

The umpire’s lodged no report about player behaviour, but Warner’s wife insisted the comments were in the abuse category.

“He removed himself firstly because he didn’t like what he was hearing and where that could’ve been taken. It was hurtful, very hurtful,” she said.

Randwick-Petersham first-grade manager Bill Anderson told The Telegraph Warner felt the comments were ‘very offensive to him’.

“But he realised that he had to play. He turned around and back out he went,” he said. “He wasn’t teary. But you could tell he had been quite affected by that. It wasn’t a heated exchange. It was something said in close range.”

Warner was fielding on Nov 25, 2014, when Phillip Hughes was struck by a bouncer bowled by Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Hughes, 25, later died from bleeding on the brain, sparking an outpouring of grief.

At the inquest, Warner said Hughes had been one of his ‘closest mates’ and he missed him every day.

Candice Warner, a former professional ironwoman, meanwhile further said: “Everyone has their opinion but I think there is a difference between sledging and abuse. What was said yesterday [Saturday] went too far. It’s just a shame that this is taking from David’s great knock yesterday, he got 157 and he got a century a few rounds ago and he’s really enjoying playing for Randwick.”

The match against Western Suburbs at Pratten Park was held up for about two minutes when Warner left the field but he returned to resume his innings by agreement with the opposition.

Warner, angered at apparent references to his wife’s previous relationship with another prominent sportsman, had already been involved in a series of incidents with South African players and fans before the scandal broke.

For much of his international career, Warner was renowned for his own juvenile sledging and famously described as the ‘attack dog’ of the Australia team.

“David is very passionate and he is an aggressive player, that’s why he is one of the best players in the world in his position,” his wife added. “David will have to be careful when he gets back, but he won’t change his style of playing.”

Published in Dawn, October 29th , 2018

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