Matthew Wade and Sam Billings exchanged a prickly war of words during the Hobart Hurricanes’ seven-wicket victory over the Sydney Thunder in the final of the Big Bash League on Monday night.
Aussie legend Ricky Ponting has also bizarrely weighed into the on-field spat, as the Tasmania side smashed their way to their maiden BBL title.
Mitchell Owen starred as the man-of-the-match as he broke multiple records with a score of 108 off 42 deliveries to guide Hobart to victory.
The 23-year-old smashed 11 sixes on his way to equalling Craig Simmons’ record of scoring the fastest-ever Big Bash final ton in 39 deliveries.
But after he was caught out by Hugh Weibgen at deep square leg, Wade came to the crease to see out the match and engaged in a sledging match with England star Billings.
Wade had attempted to play a reverse sweep and had appeared to catch the ire of Billings, who was overheard on the stumps mic taunting the Australian as the pair both placed the bails back on the stumps.
‘Nice Wadey, you’re always making friends aren’t you? Always,’ Billings was heard saying.
Matthew Wade (pictured) and Sam Billings engaged in a war of words during the Big Bash final
Billings had attempted to get under Wade’s skin claiming that Wade could not play with a straight bat
The pair also bumpred into each other during their on-pitch spat, with Billings dragging Ricky Ponting into the row
Wade attempted to play the same shot again and this time made connection with Tom Andrews’ delivery, sending it long for another boundary.
He wasn’t letting go of Billings’ earlier taunts either, turning back to gesticulate to the Thunder keeper after sweeping the shot away.
‘Watch the way that Wadey hits this shot and immediately turns back to Billings straight away,’ Brad Hodge on Channel 7’s commentary said.
‘There was a bit of chirp early and then you can see Matty Wade’s body language, (he) just turned around as if to say: “Mate, I’m here, I got this covered”.’
But Billings wasn’t giving up, despite the game quickly slipping away from his side.
‘Just like ‘Punter’ [Ponting] said, he can’t play with a straight bat against spin. Just like Punter said,’ he was heard yelling to his team-mates.
He was then overheard issuing another sledge, stating: ‘Good fishing down in Tassie.’
The comments gave the commentators a little chuckle, with Jason Richardson stating on the live broadcast: ‘He thinks he’s got him [Wade] on the hook. Not so sure…’
Ponting had questioned why he had been involved, claiming it was a ‘bit much’ to drag him into the sledging war
Wade would go on to help Hobart seal their first Big Bash League title, hitting 32 runs off 17 balls
Their hilarious spat had some commentators watching on giggling to themselves, with Billings also trying to taunt Wade, saying: ‘Good fishing down in Tassie.’
The pair met in the middle of the wicket between overs but the sledging war would continue, with Wade returning to the striker’s end.
‘He said I’m a s*** bloke, that’s what he was saying,’ the Aussie said.
‘Don’t swear, mate, there are kids watching,’ Billings quipped back.
And that wasn’t the end of their spat, with Wade again replying: ‘He’s saying I’m a bad person, that’s what he’s saying. No one likes me, Punter said I can’t play.’
Billings bit back: ‘Mate, you are sweeping on the flattest pitch in the world, it hasn’t spun once.’
Wade would go on to play a shot before they innocuously came into contact as the Hobart batter walked back to his crease.
‘No need for that, you’re not a child, you’re 38 years old,’ Billings said to Wade, who is actually 37.
But Ponting was not enthused about his name being dragged into the altercation.
Speaking during Channel 7’s coverage of the match, Ponting said: ‘Yeah I don’t mind a bit of banter, but when my name comes into it, it’s a bit much.’
Wade would ultimately close out the match, hitting 32 runs off 17 balls that included five fours and one six.
Some fans laughed at the exchange between Billings and Wade, with one claiming that their sledging war was the highlight of the match.
‘Matthew Wade v Sam Billings. The battle of the loudest keepers. That’s the real competition tonight,’ one fan wrote on X.
