Disciplinary hearing called after clash between Foster and Flower
CricInfo - 7 October 2001
Match referee Colonel Naushad Ali tonight called a disciplinary hearing after England completed a series victory over Zimbabwe with a bad-tempered win in Harare.
The hearing, involving England captain Nasser Hussain, young wicketkeeper James Foster and Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. followed an angry exchange between Foster and Flower, who refused to walk after an appeal for a catch behind the wicket.
Foster walked up to Flower, who was on 99 at the time, and who feigned a head-butt in response.
Both players could face fines, suspended sentences or even bans from the remainder of the series.
Asked for his views about the incident, Hussain said: "I want to see people with a lot of heart and character because that's what gets you through in the end.
"You can be as nice as you want, play the game the right way and all that but
you want people with character in your side.
"I'll speak to James and we'll see what happens, but I'd rather have someone
with a bit of character that you're trying to draw in every now and then than
the other way around when you're trying to draw people out of their shells.
"We're still trying to play cricket in the right way, but things will happen
in a heated contest occasionally and we're trying to keep those down to a
minimum."
Flower was also reluctant to criticise the young Essex keeper. "It was just one of those battles in the middle but nothing too serious," he said.
"It's up to him how he wants to play the game and if he wants to play it
aggressively like that and he can back it up then good luck to him."
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