Gayle fined 70 per cent of match fee for ICC Code of Conduct breach

Dubai , 7 April 2008

Captain of the West Indies team Chris Gayle has been fined 70 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain , Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.

Gayle was found to have breached Level 2.11 of the ICC Code which relates to unfair play due to his side bowling its overs too slowly. The verdict was issued following a hearing conducted by ICC Match Referee Chris Broad after play concluded on Sunday.

The other players in the West Indies team were each fined 35 per cent of their match fees for the same offence. The team was found to have been six overs short of the required over-rate, an offence to which Gayle pleaded not guilty.

“During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,” said Broad.

“Teams – and captains in particular – have a duty to bowl a minimum number of overs in a day. Slow over-rates are not fair to the opposition or the paying spectators and captains have a responsibility to ensure their players adhere to the regulations in that regard,” he said.

“I saw very little evidence that the West Indies team, after learning of their slow over-rate predicament, actually tried to speed things up. Therefore, they left me with little option but to enact this penalty,” he said.

The charge was brought by match officials Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.

If a player is found guilty of a Level 2, 3 or 4 offence then he has a right of appeal. Such an appeal must be lodged in writing with the ICC’s legal counsel within 24 hours of the player receiving the original verdict.

Present at the hearing were: Match referee Chris Broad, on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden , third umpire Goaland Greaves, fourth official Clyde Duncan, West Indies captain Chris Gayle, West Indies coach John Dyson and team manager Omar Khan.

ICC MEDIA RELEASE