One of Cricket Australia’s broadcast partners has been forced to apologise after Shane Warne and Andrew Symonds made derogatory remarks about Marnus Labuschagne.
Warne and Symonds were preparing to commentate on Friday’s BBL match between Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades seemingly unaware that the feed was live on Kayo, the streaming arm of Fox Sports, with the start of play delayed due to the third Test match between Australia and India still taking place in Sydney.
The conversation started plainly enough with Warne suggesting that Labuschagne should be brought on to bowl. However, Symonds then referred to “ADD”, presumed to be attention deficit disorder, in relation to Labuschagne, with Warne following up with a swipe at his mannerisms when he bats.
The final part of the brief segment involved Symonds referring to giving Labuschagne “the hogpile” – a group of people jumping on each other.
Warne: “Give Marnus a bowl.”
Symonds: “Do something… that or his ADD.”
Warne: “Jesus, it’s annoying. ‘No!!!’ [imitating Labuschagne batting] Just f***** bat properly.”
Symonds: “You’ll have to give him the hogpile, ‘mate, if you keep that shit up, we’re gonna squash your guts out of your arse.”
After the footage was posted on social media, Kayo tweeted: “Our stream started early and caught some unacceptable comments. On behalf of @kayosports and the commentary team, we unreservedly apologise.”
Labuschagne is currently part of the Australian team in the ongoing Sydney Test.
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