England batsman Jonathan Trott has denied taunting Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal in the first one-day international over the match-fixing allegations surrounding the visiting team.
Akmal reacted angrily while batting to something Trott said on Friday in England’s 24-run win in Durham, forcing the umpires to intervene. There was no further action taken against either player.
Akmal, who made 53 at opener, is also reportedly under investigation for spot-fixing, the rigging of events within a match.
Trott labelled the incident with Akmal as “a mountain out of a molehill,” and said it had nothing to do with the allegations of fixing that have resulted in three Pakistan players being suspended and charged by the ICC under its anti-corruption code.
“Not at all, nothing like that. Whatever is going on in the background is none of our business. We don’t talk about it on the field,” Trott said. “We don’t have any grudges or anything. We just play cricket. The last thing you want is to be dragged down on the field. It’s important we project a good image and play within the rules, hard but fair.
“I haven’t said anything (to Kamran since). I didn’t think there was much need (to apologise) - I didn’t say anything that extraordinary.”
England captain Andrew Strauss also attempted to take any heat out of a potential spat, saying he felt Trott did not overstep the mark and that the match officials handled it appropriately.
“There weren’t any words that were particularly scolding out there, and the umpires did a good job to cool it all down again,” Strauss said. “Then the players themselves managed to get on with it, which was important.
“It was nothing I felt particularly concerned about, just one of those situations where a fielder says something and the batsman bites.”
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