Alternative Commentary Collective group breaks their silence on the infamous drinks trolley controversy that got their commentary license revoked.
Alternative Commentary Collective group rose to fame owing to its unusual commentary approach. The caravan panel was licensed by the ICC for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. However, their happiness was short-lived.
During a game between Afghanistan and New Zealand, a strange incident took place. Leigh Hart, a member of the ACC panel for that match, hopped on the drinks trolley and traveled onto the ground during the drinks break. He was reportedly promoting the official sponsor, “Gatorade”. However, this stunt did not go down well with the ICC.
“You’ve been thrown out of the World Cup”, Mike Lane of the Alternative Commentary Collective opens up
ICC took strong action against these antics of the ACC. They alleged that this was against the rules for an outsider to go onto the ground and interact with the players on the field. There were also rumors of them getting involved in match-fixing. Hence, ICC revoked its license and they were out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
Now, after several years, the group has spoken up. Mike Lane, who was a member of the Alternative Commentary Collective at that time, said that he knew something was a miss when he saw 10 missed calls from his boss. Their boss apparently told them,
“Please tell me you didn’t do it? Apparently, you stole a drinks trolley, you drove it out on the field, you interviewed players, and there’s allegations of match-fixing … and you’ve been thrown out of the World Cup.”
Jeremy Wells further said that they were being pressurized to promote the brands. Leigh Hart was accused of vague things, which he did not do.
“We were being accused of all sorts of things. Leigh Hart was being accused of hijacking the drinks trolley.”
Jason Hoyt further went on to accuse ICC of setting them up. He alleged that the group had a tense relationship with the ICC and that the board wanted them out.
“You’ve got to understand that by this stage the relationship between the ACC and authority was getting a little bit tense. And so this was just disgusting to them, but it was a total setup. The authorities had got sick of us.”
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