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Chappell says Lehmann a 'hypocrite' in Broad row

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AFP London
Former captain Ian Chappell has accused Australia coach Darren Lehmann of hypocrisy in attacking England's Stuart Broad for "blatant cheating" during this season's first Ashes Test.

Lehmann's comments in an Australian radio interview saw him fined 20 percent of his match in the ongoing fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval.

The 27-year-old Broad angered Australia during England's narrow 14-run first Test win at Trent Bridge when he refused to walk after a thick edge deflected off the wicketkeeper's gloves to slip.

Victory sent England on their way to taking an unbeatable 3-0 series lead in the Ashes.

Chappell said Australians, who've traditionally always waited for the umpire's decision, were in no position to complain about opponents who did exactly the same thing.
 

"I don't like to be called a cheat and basically he (Lehmann) is calling all people who don't walk a cheat, which would include himself," Chappell told BBC Radio Five today.

"'Cheat' is not a word you should use very light-heartedly, and even if you are being light-hearted that's a word you should steer away from," added Chappell, captain of the successful Australian side of the early to mid 1970s.

"And even when you've got your tongue in your cheek it's pretty hypocritical for an Australian to complain about somebody not walking."

After Broad defended his actions earlier this week, an unimpressed Lehmann told Australia radio station Triple M in an interview broadcast on Wednesday: "Certainly our players haven't forgotten, they're calling him everything under the sun as they go past.

"I hope the Australian public are the same because that was just blatant cheating. I don't advocate walking but when you hit it to first slip it's pretty hard," he said.

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First Published: Aug 23 2013 | 8:22 PM IST

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