An infamous incident took place during the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. The members of the Alternative Commentary Collective (ACC) have finally broken the silence about the drinks trolley incident.
The team’s broadcasting credentials were revoked by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following an on-field stunt during Afghanistan vs. New Zealand game in Napier. The team had become well-known for its distinctive style of cricket commentary from a caravan park close to the boundary.
The incidence
Leigh Hart, a member of Alternative Commentary Collective accompanied the drinks trolley into the park as a part of the promotion for Gatorade. However, International Cricket Council (ICC) negatively took this incident.
Seven years after the incident, the commentary group has spoken about the incident.
“Please tell me you didn’t do it?”
Lane’s boss asked.
“Apparently, you stole a drinks trolley, you drove it out on the field, you interviewed players, and there are allegations of match-fixing … and you’ve been thrown out of the World Cup.”
Mike Lane said he felt something wrong when he saw 10 missed calls from his boss.
“Someone spoke to someone who spoke to someone, who got freaked out about something,”
Wells said of the ensuing fiasco.
“We were being accused of all sorts of things. Leigh Hart was being accused of hijacking the drinks trolley.”
“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,”
he said.
“The authorities had got sick of us.”
But Lane said that the achievements of 2015 need to be cherished nonetheless.
“I think to this day, we are the only commentary team to ever be thrown out of a World Cup … and I’m proud of that.”
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