Shane Watson found guilty of offence contrary to Spirit of Cricket

Australia all-rounder fined 10 per cent of match fee for Level 1 breach; Gautam Gambhir hearing adjourned until Friday morning for match referee to review evidence

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has been fined 10 per cent of his match fee after breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test against India in New Delhi.

At a hearing in front of Emirates Elite Panel match referee Chris Broad, Watson pleaded not guilty to a Level 1 charge under clause C1 of the ICC Code of Conduct which states that players “shall at all times conduct play within in the spirit of the game as well as within the Laws of Cricket”.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place during the 51st over of India’s first innings on day one of the Test match when there was a coming-together of Watson and India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir.

After considering the evidence, Broad found Watson guilty of verbally engaging with Gambhir in a manner that was not in keeping the Spirit of Cricket.

Broad fined Watson 10 per cent of his match fee for the offence. In cases of Level 1 offences, the match referee’s decision is final and binding and, as such, there is no right of appeal.

Present at the hearing was the player, the match referee, the on-field umpires Billy Bowden and Aleem Dar, third umpire Suresh Shastri and fourth umpire Sameer Bandekar, Australia team coach Tim Nielsen and Australia team manager Steve Bernard.

In the case of Gambhir, the hearing has been adjourned until Friday morning to allow the match referee to review the evidence. The player has pleaded guilty to a C1 Level 2 offence of not playing within the Spirit of Cricket.

An announcement of the result of the hearing will be issued in due course.

The charges against both players in this case were laid by the umpires.

The penalty for a Level 2 offence is a fine of between 50 and 100 per cent of the player’s match fee and/or a maximum ban of one Test match or two ODIs. For Level 2 offences players have the right to appeal against an adjudicator’s decision within 24 hours of notification of that decision.

Level 1 penalties range from an official reprimand and/or a fine of up to 50 per cent of the player’s match fee.

The full ICC Code of Conduct for Player and Team Officials can be found at www.icc-cricket.com.