Cricket board to discuss Lillee incident today

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 28

Cricket board to discuss Lillee incident today

NZPA Adelaide Australian Cricket Board members are expected to discuss the Dennis Lillee-Javed Miandad incident in Melbourne today.

The chairman of the A.C.8., Mr Phil Ridings, said that .no official meeting had been scheduled, for today but most of the board’s members would be in Melbourne and the issue was likely to be discussed then. Mr Ridings, speaking in Adelaide, said that the board was anxious to bury the matter as soon as possible. “The board will consider a special report from me and the complaint received from Pakistan’s team manager, Ijaz Butt; regarding the incident in the -first test with Pakistan,” said Mr Ridings. Mr Ridings, who witnessed the mid-wicket clash between Lillee and Miandad in Perth, said he was still in the process of writing his report but declined to comment on

its contents. Mr Ridings also declined to comment when asked if he

had discussed the affair with Lillee and Lillee’s reported threat to quit cricket if suspended. Mr Ridings said that any discussions were strictly confidential. • He also dismissed as pure conjecture newspaper reports suggesting the Australian Cricket Board would have to take a harder line with Lillee than the twomatch suspension he had received over the incident. The A.C.B. sub-committee co-ordinator, Bob Merriman, on Wednesday night quashed a $2OO fine imposed on Lillee by his teammates and ordered the player’s suspension after hearing an appeal against the fine by the test umpires, Tony Crafter and Mel Johnson.