The India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”, the International Cricket Council have announced.
Jadeja, 25, was involved in an incident with England seamer James Anderson during the lunch break on the second day of the drawn first Test at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge ground on July 10.
England charged Jadeja with a Level Two offence under the ICC’s code of conduct in retaliation for India bringing a more serious, Level Three charge against Anderson for allegedly “abused and pushing” Jadeja.
However, ICC match referee David Boon, following a two-and-a-half hour hearing at Southampton, downgraded Jadeja’s offence to Level One status.
A Level Two infringement could have seen Jadeja banned for at least one match, but the maximum penalty for a Level One breach is 50 per cent of a player’s match fee.
“While I was in no doubt that a confrontation did occur, and that such conduct was not in the spirit of the game and should not have taken place, I was not comfortably satisfied that this was a Level 2 offence,” Boon said in an ICC statement.
Anderson’s case will be dealt with in a separate hearing under ICC code of conduct commissioner Gordon Lewis on Friday – the day after the third Test of a five-match series between England and India at Southampton is due to finish.
Both Anderson and Jadeja are free to play in the Southampton match that begins tomorrow, with India 1-0 up in the series after winning the second Test, at Lord’s.
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