IND v AUS | Hope to shed my fringe tag during this series, attests Kane Richardson
Kane Richardson has said that he expects to shed his tag as Australia’s fringe bowler in the three-match ODI series against India, starting on January 14. Richardson also clarified the controversial moment he had on the field with compatriot Marcus Stoinis, who directed a homophobic slur at him.
A stop-start affair is the best way to describe Richardson’s international career graph — with a five-for in Canberra against India in 2016 being his moment of glory. But even with the likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc in the same line-up and ready to attack the Indian batting line-up, Richardson remains hopeful of getting an opportunity besides them. The 28-year old pacer was going hard during practise for three hours at the Wankhede in preparation for the first ODI in Mumbai on Tuesday.
"It would be nice to take the field with all three of them. I have always been spoken about in the way that if injuries happen, I'm the next guy in. So if I could take the field with those guys, it gives you a lot of confidence that hopefully when I come onto bowl there are two or three down early," Richardson said, reported TOI.Â
Lately, however, Richardson has been in the news for an on-field clash between him and Melbourne Stars’ all-rounder Stoinis, who was fined $7500 dollars for the homophobic slur during last week's BBL clash against his Melbourne Renegades’ side. The South Australian later clarified that things between him and Stoinis was normal, before adding that such incidents should never happen again.
"He realised he had made a mistake. I could just tell by his body language for the rest of his innings that night that he knew he had made a mistake. I didn't need an apology for myself, he didn't offend me. It's what he said that offended so many people. It was more than just his actions and everyone's actions. We can't afford to have that happen again," he said.Â
"We're both competitors. It was just a bit of harmless banter about what was going on the field and the way he goes about it. For some reason he reacted the way he did. You would have to ask him why. It was really out of character. He looked more angry than I have ever seen him. I'm not sure what he was thinking. The learning has to be that it never happens again,” Richardson added.