Dirk Nannes criticises Australia’s “horrendous sportsmanship” after Ross Taylor’s dismissal at 290

Former Australian fast-bowler Dirk Nannes slammed Australia for their poor sportsmanship, as they didn’t shake hands with New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor after the latter was dismissed for 290. Taylor batted for almost nine and half-hours and brought up the highest score recorded by a visiting batsman on Australian soil.

Nannes, now commentating for ABC Grandstand, was quoted by abc.net.au, as saying, “Probably the biggest disappointment of that session is that after the innings, he’s made 290, not one person from the Australian camp went and shook his hand. In the spirit of the way this game has been played, and the game before, with the exception of that one incident with Mitchell Starc, I can’t help but be disappointed that nobody went out to him and shook his hand. Ross Taylor’s 290 at 11 interesting statistical milestones

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It’s not that hard is it? You don’t have a guy bat for a day and a half out there and just not even acknowledge it, that’s horrendous sportsmanship.”

Nannes’ fellow commentator Gerard Whately defended the side’s behaviour when he said, “It happened so quickly, and I’m sure the calculations of what was happening with the clock, I doubt it was malicious, it strikes me as more of a lapse.”

However, a furious Nannes didn’t accept the excuse and dismissed it, he countered, “The Australian team is pretty good at lapsing. It’s not hard to just do the simple things. When you’ve got a kid, you teach them to say thank you when they go for a sleepover, you teach them to say thank you for the meal. It’s not hard, and yes you say it’s a lapse, but we see it more and more often and it’s not a good look.” Ross Taylor slams 290, the highest score by a visitor in Australian soil: Twitter reactions

Ahead of the series, Australians spoke about how they took offence on New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum’s criticism of Steve Smith on the Ben Stokes’ handling the ball issue. Despite some contentious umpiring decisions against the visitors, the series has been played in good spirits and after The Gabba Test, Australian and New Zealand players were seen sharing beer. McCullum says Smith might regret Stokes’ ‘obstructing the field’ decision