O’Brien, who plays for Kent, allegedly called McCurdie “s***.” The incident is likely to be looked at by the ICC .
The flashpoint came as the Irish team arrived at a flooded Mannofield ground where torrential overnight rained had poured under the covers and left the wicket unplayable.
O’Brien was seen to make a beeline for McCurdie, allegedly telling him: “You don’t know what you’re f***ing doing.” The outburst was heard by umpires Niels Bagh and Shahul Hussain, who are sure to report the incident to match referee David Jukes.
McCurdie said: “At first I thought the guy was joking and couldn’t believe it when he kept hurling the abuse. What annoys me most is that, unknown to me, he had already verbally assaulted members of my groundstaff. His behaviour was totally out of order.” Referee Jukes said: “I have yet to receive a report but, if I do, the matter will be fully investigated. The ICC has an official code of conduct and treats player behaviour very seriously.”
Yesterday’s play in the four-day clash was abandoned for the day shortly after O’Brien’s outburst. Jukes added: “The quantity of water that fell on the ground overnight on Friday into Saturday made it nigh impossible to keep the wicket dry, regardless of what precautions were taken.
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“I have worked at Aberdeen several times over the years and the ground staff have always impressed me with their professionalism.”
Play is already in doubt for the final day of the match tomorrow with the Scots currently holding a six-point advantage after establishing a first-innings lead.
Meanwhile, the sense of ill-feeling between the sides which surfaced during a stormy final session on Friday intensified yesterday after suggestions from the Scottish camp that Ireland’s players were ordered to pressurise Indonesian official Hussain.
Four Scottish wickets fell for just 24 runs during a torrid 12-over spell as Ireland, led by Aussie-born skipper Trent Johnston, launched a succession of contentious appeals. However, they were sufficient to convince Hussain, who sent Neil MacRae, Gavin Hamilton and Ryan Watson back to the pavilion nursing a grievance.
Ironically, Ireland have also been annoyed by several incidents during an ill-tempered match, especially the decision to come off for bad light on Friday evening when conditions seemed no worse than they had been all day. Both camps believe the ICC have undermined the fixture by failing to appoint first-class umpires.
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Scotland captain Craig Wright said: “What annoys me most is that we’ve made similar complaints in the past and the ICC have not acted on them. It seems obvious that a first-class fixture should have first-class umpires and then a lot of the things we’ve seen in this game would be avoided.”
Both Bagh and Hussain are members of the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate Panel of umpires but neither is consistently exposed to high-pressure matches.
Jukes defended the ICC when he said: “The ICC regards the Intercontinental Cup as a very important part of its developmental programme and it is funded very heavily. However, the money available is not infinite and they have to make a management call in terms of what it can and cannot resource.“