Rival captains warned to cut out war of words

The rival New Zealand and England captains have been asked to tone down the bad language and gestures made as dismissed batsmen leave the field which have marred the current one-day series.

Match referee Denis Lindsay has decided to make an appeal for calm to the hosts' Stephen Fleming and England's Nasser Hussain after claims by New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent.

Vincent said he was sworn at and called a cheat by an unnamed England player in the opening match of the series in Christchurch, which New Zealand won by four wickets.

Vincent had earlier brilliantly caught England's Andy Flintoff in the covers. The batsman rightly stood his ground as he was not convinced the ball had carried to Vincent's left hand, but the third umpire David Quested ruled that it had.

Lindsay saw Hussain having words with Vincent and warned: "I will not tolerate a slanging match. If there is something going on between these two teams, I need to put a stop to it before it gets out of hand.

"I'm aware that something went on involving Hussain when Vincent went out to bat and if there is any ill-feeling I want to nip it in the bud."

In India in December, Lindsay ordered Hussain to calm down at the Bangalore test after a public tiff with top Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

"The England players know where I stand on the whole sledging issue," he said. "I don't mind a bit of chirping because that's all part of the game, but I will not tolerate personal abuse."

New Zealand lead the five-match series 2-0 after England were bowled out for 89, their second-lowest one-day total, as the home side powered to a 155-victory on Saturday.

The remaining three matches are in Napier, on Wednesday, Dunedin and Auckland.

Mail Cricket Editor