England's Jos Buttler apologised for his mistake but not before questioning whether there are merits in television audiences getting access to whatever that is said on the stump microphone.
The wicketkeeper was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and handed one demerit point by the ICC for verbally abusing Vernon Philander, who was batting at the time, during the second Test in Cape Town.
Read Also: Buttler questions use of stump microphone after being fined for abusing Philander
"I fully understand that as role models we have a duty to behave in a certain way. I would like to apologise and understand that is not the way to behave. I take the slap on the wrist," Buttler told reporters on Sunday (January 12).
"It was the heat of the moment and a bit of red mist. But it is all done and can now be swept under the carpet so we can move on."
A lot is said on a cricket field in the heat of the battle, it is still debatable whether the worldwide audiences should get to hear it.
"In Test cricket, there is high emotion at times," Buttler said. "There can be things said that don’t mean anything, but for the viewers at home it can come across very poorly."
"It is a tough one, we understand that it adds to the viewer experience to have stump mics to hear a bit of what goes on."
"But I think the players like the thinking of what happens on the field, stays on the field, and isn’t heard necessarily by everyone at home."
England players were obviously pressing for a victory and needed wickets. "It is easy to say vocal is the way to do things, but also your actions speak loud as well. One of the good things in that last game was the way we hunted as a team," Buttler said.
"We have a number of young guys under the age of 24 in the side and they were fantastic at creating energy around the bat and putting pressure on the opposition."
"The two games have been played in a great spirit, they have been hard-fought and the series is set up really well at 1-1."
The third Test will be played from January 16 in Port Elizabeth.
(Inputs from Reuters)
