Kerry O'Keeffe apologises for 'railway canteen' jibe at Mayank Agarwal

Kerry O'Keeffe

Former Australian cricketer Kerry O'Keeffe has apologised for ridiculing Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal's first-class career while commentating during the ongoing third Test here, saying he did not intend to demean the debutant. The former spinner, while commentating for 'Fox Cricket', was quoted as saying that Agarwal's maiden first-class triple century came against "Railways canteen staff".

O'Keeffe was criticised on social media for the comment and the cricketer, who played 24 Tests for Australia, apologised on Thursday for comment on Agarwal, who scored 76 in his maiden Test appearance. "I was mentioning the runs Agarwal got in first class cricket in India and there's been a reaction," he was quoted as saying by the local media here.

"There was no way I was demeaning the standard, it was tongue in cheek. There are lots of runs scored so apologies if anyone out there took offence," he added. The 27-year-old Agarwal plays for Karnataka in the Indian domestic circuit and averages close to 50. The four-Test series between India and Australia is locked 1-1 after the visitors won the lung-opener in Adelaide and the hosts drew level in Perth.

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