West Indies Ramnaresh Sarwan (centre) is checked by New Zealand's Shane Bond (left) and Brendon McCullum after being hit in the head by a delivery from Bond during Day Four of their first Test cricket match in Auckland on March 12. Sarwan left the field injured as the West Indies chased 291 to win the first of the three Test series. - REUTERS
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (CMC)
NEW ZEALAND BATSMAN Scott Styris has blasted the West Indies for displaying a lack of concern after several of their players were hit during the first Test in Auckland last week.
Styris, who was hit by pacer Fidel Edwards in the second innings of the Eden Park Test, highlighted several instances during the match when Kiwi players were hit but were not offered compassion by the opposition.
"There was a little bit of disappointment about the way they were laughing and joking after our guys were struck, which was what I mentioned to Fidel after I was hit," Styris told local media.
"It's just a matter of checking out that you're fine and that you're okay."
He continued: "You want to play the game hard and you want to play it fair, but you also want to make sure that someone's not hurt - or at least that's the way WE want to play it.
"We made sure Sarwan was okay after he got hit, but were pretty disappointed and grumpy about [batsmen Shiv] Chanderpaul and [Daren] Ganga after Jamie was struck. They eventually showed some concern, but we thought it was a little too late."
Styris, along with batsman Nathan Astle and wicketkeeper/batsman Brendon McCullum, was hit while batting, while Jamie How received a blow while fielding.
"If you have any sense of empathy and consideration, you don't want to see anyone badly hurt," Styris pointed out.
"You want to try and get him out, you want to intimidate him so that you can get him out, but you don't want to see him carried off on a stretcher."
He added: "Or at least WE certainly don't, and I know Bondy [Shane Bond] doesn't - he's mentioned it before. If he does hit a guy, he's always looking to see if he's okay.
"If other teams are doing that, well and good, but I think it's more to do with common sense than an international understanding."
New Zealand lead the three-Test series 1-0 after winning the first Test by 27 runs.
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