BBL 2016: Cricket Australia bans Andre Russell’s bat
New Delhi : The Big Bash League started with a controversy from its match. The Sydney Thunder batsman Andre Russell sparked an argument when he was on the field with a outrageous black and pink bat.
The opposition team Sydney Sixers’ skipper Brad Haddin turned to the umpire to ask the legality of the bat. Initially, Russell was allowed to use the bat but Cricket Australia later announced that it was banned after it was found out that it discoloured the ball.
Earlier, Cricket Australia had stated that differently coloured bats are allowed in the Big Bash League as long as it matches the club colours. Russell’s Sydney Thunders teammate had, on one occasion used an electric green bat against Sixers.
This is not for the first time, earlier Chris Gayle had earlier used a golden coloured bat. But those two bats were well within the range of rules as they didn’t interfere with the colour of the ball.
“The Match Officials provided feedback to Cricket Australia that the bat used by Andre left black marks on the match ball,” said Head of the Big Bash Anthony Everard. “As a result, we have decided to withdraw our approval for Andre to use the bat that was used last night as the colour solution used by the manufacturer was discolouring the ball.