'Turn the stump mics up, it's time for people for behave themselves': England's Moeen Ali believes sledging can easily be curbed in wake of Shannon Gabriel's ban for homophobic comment to Joe Root
England all-rounder Moeen Ali differs with coach Trevor Bayliss and believes turning up the stump microphones could curb sledging in cricket.
West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was banned for four one-day internationals on Wednesday after found guilty of 'personal abuse' aimed at England skipper Joe Root in the St Lucia test.
It follows a similar four-match ban on Sarfraz Ahmed after stump microphones caught the Pakistan captain's on-field rant at South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo during a one-dayer in Durban last month.
Moeen Ali believes sledging in cricket can be curbed by turning up stump microphones
The England spinner was speaking in the wake of the Shannon Gabriel homophobia scandal
West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, left, was banned for four matches after making a homophobic comment which prompted a response from England captain Joe Root
'It's time for people to behave themselves,' Moeen said ahead of the five-match ODI series with the West Indies beginning at Bridgetown on Wednesday.
'Turn the stump mics up. Why turn them down? So people can swear? There is no reason to get personal.
'It's the way society is: things come out of people's mouths. You're not going to get away with it now. You have to be careful.'
The 31-year-old's view contrasts that of Bayliss who advocates turning down the microphones to protect players.
'I've said it once before, no I'm not in favour of it and I'm not going to change my mind,' Bayliss said before Gabriel's ban was announced.
West Indies fast bowler Gabriel was involved in a verbal exchange with England's Joe Root
Sky Sports footage of the incident showed Root telling Gabriel: 'Don't use that as an insult'
Root (right) responded quickly to the abuse, shutting Gabriel down with his reply
"Don't use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being gay."
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) February 12, 2019
Joe Root responds to sledging from Windies bowler Shannon Gabriel.
Full story: https://t.co/nRfSmWU5q6pic.twitter.com/ghoDyGxUOi
One-day matches Gabriel will miss
February 20 First ODI (Barbados)
February 22 Second ODI (Barbados)
February 25 Third ODI (Grenada)
February 27 Fourth ODI (Grenada)
'I think (stump mics) should be down. I know there are people who think the opposite and think it is good for the game but sometimes in the heat of battle things are said, when guys given a bit of time to sit down and think about it would give themselves a bit of a kick up the backside.'
Moeen, who in his autobiography claimed being called 'Osama' by an unidentified Australia player during the 2015 Ashes series, said turning up the microphones could also catch harmless, entertaining banter between players.
'Imagine all the legendary old stories, if we had them recorded,' Moeen said.
'We can do the same now. It doesn't have to be swearing. Keep it funny. We want people to be attracted to the game. There's brilliant ways to sledge.'
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