Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has teed off on players taking an "inordinate time to leave the crease when they get out" following criticism that player behaviour has dipped.
Champion batsman Steve Smith was last week furious at being given out caught behind on the final day of NSW's Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria.
A frustrated Smith clearly didn't think his bat had brushed the ball as he shook his head repeatedly while looking around in frustration.
Asked about the likes of Smith and whether there's been a noticeable dip in player behaviour, Chappell said the "problem" for individuals was they were paying the price for mistakes made by cricket administrators.
"Dissension is dissension. If they feel dissension was involved, they should get fined and fined quite severely," he told 2GB'S Wide World of Sports.
"But herein lies the problem — the cricket administrators make the mistakes and the players pay the price.
"In the era I was brought up in, one of the first things you were told is the umpire is right and you do not argue with the umpire
"Somehow rather you have to find a way, even if you were given out and you knew you weren't out, somehow you had to find a way to walk that 100-odd metres to the dressing room before you let it all loose. It was character building."
The former Australian captain said the issues fans were witnessing were one of the effects following the introduction of the DRS system.
With players now able to review controversial decisions made by umpires in certain formats and levels of the game, they feel more comfortable arguing, Chappell says, and he also believes it has enabled players to take extra time while leaving the crease when given out.
"So, what have the administrators done now? They've brought in the DRS system, which is basically saying to the players 'argue with the umpires'," Chappell said.
"I will say this, and not just about the Australian players, but a lot of players from around the world are taking an inordinate time to leave the crease when they get out.
"I don't understand it. I think back to when I played — when I got out, I wanted to get off the ground as quickly as I could.
"I think some of them look around, have a look at the big screen and so on."
Chappell made specific mention of Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who he said was a prime culprit of slowly walking from the field.
"Marnus is a bad example, he takes forever to get off the field but he's not the only one and there are plenty of others and from other countries. I just don't understand it," he said.
"You've never had so many police officers at a cricket grounds: referees, third umpires, fourth umpires.
"It's time for them to say 'hey listen, what the hell is going on? When you're given out, get on your bike and get on your bike real quick'."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/cricket/australian-cricket-ian-chappell-hits-out-at-batsmen-taking-too-long-to-leave-the-crease/4e4c4d55-c38d-44d1-b09e-e77bc507064e
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