Australia captain Michael Clarke expects temperamental opener David Warner to be on his best behavior in today’s World Cup semi-final against India, but Mitchell Johnson said he was ready to step up the sledging war.
Warner, who has already been warned twice for on-field verbal sledges, faces suspension from the final, should Australia qualify, if he is found guilty of another misdemeanor at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“David will be fine,” Clarke told reporters yesterday. “He knows the rules, as we all do, and his rules are no different than the rest of ours.”
However, fast bowler Johnson said he did not expect any let up in Australia’s aggressive approach and was even willing to take the lead if Warner did not sledge.
“I heard Davey [Warner] say he was not going to get involved in all that stuff,” Johnson told Fox Sports. “Someone has got to do it and I think I might put my hand up. It’s part of the game.”
Meanwhile all-rounder Shane Watson accepted that he too was on thin ice after being fined for exchanging words with Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz during Australia’s quarter-final victory.
“I don’t want to get fined again or get suspended, so I know I’m going to have to be even more diligent with what I say, when I say it and how I say it,” Watson said.
“Based on my last fine, I am just about on my last warning,” he added.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) faced criticism for being heavy-handed in fining both Wahab and Watson, but chief executive David Richardson insisted the world cricket body had done the right thing.
“I enjoyed the competitiveness ... it was just a pity it extended later in the game to something you wouldn’t want your kids to see,” Richardson said. “Things get heated — we actually like them to get heated from time to time. On the odd occasion, you lose your cool and you say something you shouldn’t — perhaps you should get a fine or you might get suspended.”
Australia and India have had a tumultuous relationship on and off the field in recent years.
The bad blood showed up during India’s Test and one-day series in Australia prior to the World Cup, when heated on-field exchanges led to several players being penalized.
Three India players, Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, and Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc were charged for a breach of the ICC’s code of conduct.
Warner was reported both in the Test and one-day series, and was publicly told by Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland to “stop looking for trouble.”
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