Netball: No justice in sending off

By Richard Boock

It is not completely clear which of the Queensbury Rules was breached by Sharon Wiles at the weekend, but it must be said she was unlucky to be singled out in this bar-room brawl of a netball match.

At worst, the 21-year-old was the victim of a massive misjudgment by English umpire Bill Alexander, whose decision to sack the Jamaican wingdefence in the final minutes of the world championship match against Australia has raised the question of discrimination at the world championships.

Cautioned earlier and then marched for persistent offending, a bewildered Wiles could fairly claim she was merely keeping up with the tempo of traffic, for this was a test marred by persistent offending from both sides - much of it far worse than the moderate act for which she was ejected.

And if persistent offending was going to be the straw that broke Alexander's back, how Australian vice-captain Shelley O'Donnell managed to remain on the court is anyone's guess, as she was in the thick of things from start to finish and managed to deck almost anyone who came near her.

From a family with a strong Aussie Rules' background, O'Donnell epitomised the attitude of the world champions by giving as good as she got, including a retaliatory back-heel on an opponent deep in the final quarter, not dissimilar to David Beckham's fateful act in last year's World Cup soccer tournament.

Far from being innocent bystanders, Australia's contribution to the scrap, which they won 47-42, was akin to someone noticing a small kitchen fire and rushing in with a bucket of 91 Unleaded, although umpires Alexander and New Zealander Kirsten Lloyd seemed to be paying so much attention to Jamaica they didn't notice.

Jamaican coach Maureen Hall, however, was rightly outraged, and said people - and umpires in particular - had painted her team as baddies long before anyone had arrived in Christchurch, leading to inevitable discrimination when the players took the court.

"Everyone's ready for us, all the umpires are waiting for Jamaica," Hall said. "It's unacceptable and unfortunate, but that's what's happened. I'm furious because that wingdefence, all she was doing was competing like everyone else out there.

"If you're umpiring you can't go into the game with preconceived notions, but every time we're in a major match these days, we're coming up against precisely that problem."

It was not a complete surprise to hear the Neighbours providing ringing endorsements of the umpires and their actions, but even allowing for a total lack of objectivity it was difficult to swallow a claim by coach Jill McIntosh and captain Vicky Wilson that Australia had not contributed to the free-for-all.

Anyone with two eyes could see they had.