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Cameron Green caught up in ugly 'cheat' controversy in Test final

The young allrounder was the target of ugly chants on day 4 of the final.

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read
Cameron Green booed by the crowd and Green taking a catch at gully.
Aussie allrounder Cameron Green (pictured) was accused from the Indian crowd of 'cheating' in ugly scenes after this controversial catch in the Test Championship Final. (Images: Twitter)

Aussie bowler Cameron Green has been caught at the centre of a 'cheating' storm after taking his second stunning catch at gully in the Test Championship Final as the crowd were unhappy with the controversial call. Green took one of the great cricket catches on day 3 at The Oval to help Australia dismiss India and build upon their lead.

After going into bat and setting India a record target of 444 runs, India were immediately dealt a setback when Green took a screamer off Scott Boland's delivery against Shubnam Gill. The catch was close as Green dived to his left and stuck out his hand to gather the ball.

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The umpires sent it upstairs to check the decision. Third umpire Richard Kettleborough deemed Green had his fingers underneath the ball and the allrounder had full control. The wicket stood, but this didn't please Rohit Sharma who argued with the on-field umpires.

However, the Indian fanbase were left absolutely outraged with the call. Boos rang around The Oval. To make matters worse, Gill took to social media in the dressing room and posted a photo of the catch with a magnifying glass emoji.

Gill was clearly back in the sheds fuming at the third umpires call. However, what followed was unfair on Green.

In unsavoury scenes in the penultimate showpiece event for Test cricket, when Green came on to bowl after the incident crowd chants of 'cheat, cheat, cheat' echoed around the ground. Following the days play, Green admitted he thought the catch was fine.

"At the time I definitely thought I caught it," he said. "I think in the heat of the moment I thought it was clean. It was left up to the third umpire and he agreed.

“Obviously the Indian crowd are so passionate and obviously one of the favourite guys Shubman Gil got out and I think that’s what they were all kind of looking forward to watching, so it is what it is and we move on.”

Cameron Green celebrates a catch.
Cameron Green (pictured) took a controversial catch against India at The Oval. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Cricket world slams crowd behaviour over Cam Green act

It's fair to say the cricket world was completely divided over the Green moment, which saw Australia take its first wicket of the day. Many fans felt Green had control of the ball before it hit the ground.

Others felt the ball was touching the ground before Green could gather it. Regardless, viewers were left stunned at the crowd chanting 'cheat' at The Oval. Many slammed the behaviour of the crowd as 'shameful' towards a player who had done nothing wrong.

India finished the day at 3-164 as Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane lead the fightback. While there was less happening in the wicket than the Aussies would have hoped, wicketkeeper Alex Carey was condident the team had enough runs heading into day 5.

“We’ve got the runs on the board that we would have liked,” Carey added at the end of play. “Always want to take more wickets, but they played well. We’ve got a good chance tomorrow.

“It’s going to be case of coming here tomorrow and being patient, putting the ball in the right area and trying to take those seven chances.”

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