GROS ISLET, St Lucia, CMC – West Indies speedster Shannon Gabriel has been controversially slapped with a four-match One-Day International ban by cricket’s world governing body, the ICC, after being found guilty of player abuse.
The 30-year-old Gabriel was also hit with a 75 per cent fine and three demerit points for the incident, which took place during the England second innings on day three of the third and final Test in St Lucia on Monday.
“During the third day of the St Lucia Test against England on Monday, Gabriel was found guilty of breaching article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘personal abuse of a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire or Match Referee during an international match’, following an incident with England captain Joe Root,” an ICC statement said yesterday.
West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel.
The ICC did not stipulate what Gabriel said to Root, nor did stump microphones pick up his comments but according media reports, Root was overheard telling Gabriel in response: “Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
Gabriel was charged by on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena, along with third umpire Chris Gaffaney, following Tuesday’s fourth day when England pulled off a 232-run win.
And the ICC said there had been no need for a hearing after Gabriel admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction set out by match referee Jeff Crowe.
For Gabriel, the ban represents his second in four months after he was suspended for the second Test against Bangladesh last November. On that occasion, he made physical contact with batsman Imrul Kayes and was hit with two demerit points and also fined 30 per cent of his match fee.
That took his tally to five demerit points – following a similar charge against Pakistan in 2017.
“With the addition of these three [latest] demerit points, he has reached the threshold of eight demerit points, which, pursuant to article 7.6 of the Code, have been converted into four suspension points,” the ICC said.
“Four suspension points equate to a ban from two Tests or four ODIs/T20Is, whatever comes first for the player.”
The ban covers the first four ODIs of the upcoming five-match series against England starting later this month. However, Gabriel had not been named in the squad announced last week for the first two matches.
