Vermeulen verisimilitude

Zimbabwean batsman Mark Vermeulen's Cricinfo bio tells us that he is the kind of guy who likes to keep it real. In particular it says his desire to succeed can occasionally spill over into petulance. As a schoolboy he was banned for uprooting his stumps after being given out lbw. And he was sent home from a tour to England after ignored a management instruction and failed to get on the team bus.

This petty behaviour pales into insignificance compared to last night's hissy-fit during a club game in England. After swearing at the crowd and then throwing a cricket ball at a fence, Vermeulen uprooted a steel spike and had to be restrained by people in the crowd. Police later visited the Zimbabwean's flat and the England Cricket Board has just decided to ban him from all cricket for ten years. Ten years! Golly, the guy must have used some pretty interesting swear words to have copped that sort of a ban.