Dwayne Bravo fined for ‘inappropriate comments’
LEEDS, England (AFP) — West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo has been fined by the International Cricket Council after criticising officials for the dismissal of Chris Gayle in the second One-Day International against England.
Opening batsman Gayle had made 53 in just 51 balls, when he was given out lbw to England off-spinner Graeme Swann by New Zealand umpire Tony Hill at The Oval on Tuesday.
Gayle called for a review but third umpire Kumar Dharmasena of Sri Lanka, after several minutes’ study, decided there was not enough evidence to overturn Hill’s original verdict.
It seemed a close call either way as to whether the ball had hit the bat or pad firs,t but the upshot was that Gayle’s exit sparked a collapse that saw the West Indies decline from 63 without loss to 79 for four.
Bravo, who top-scored for the tourists with 77, said the umpires had made a mistake following an eight-wicket defeat that gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
“It’s okay, umpires do make mistakes — that’s accepted — but not when they see the referral as well and realise they’ve made the wrong decision and then stand by it,” Bravo told a post-match news conference on Tuesday.
“It was a game-changing moment, and it was always difficult then to get a big total. If the decision had gone a different way, it might have been a different ball game.”
Bravo’s comments saw him fined 20 per cent of his match fee Friday for a level one offence under the section of the ICC’s code of conduct which covers “inappropriate public comment”.
The all-rounder pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction so there was no need for a formal hearing.
“Dwayne unfortunately went over the mark in describing the Chris Gayle decision and used comments that criticised both the on-field and TV umpire,” said match referee Jeff Crowe, the former New Zealand captain.
Yesterday’s third and final one-day international at Leeds’s Headingley ground was washed out without a ball being bowled.
West Indies conclude their tour with a Twenty20 international against England in Nottingham tomorrow.