West Indies player pacer Shannon Gabriel has been slapped with a four match suspension ahead of the five-match One Day International series against England following his on-field altercation with England captain Joe Root.
Gabriel, who pleaded guilty to the offense, was fined 75% of his match fee and received three demerit points, pushing him over the threshold for a ban.
He was charged with a Level Two offense under article 2.13 of the ICC’s Code of Conduct, covering “personal abuse”. Gabriel admitted the offense after the end of the match on Tuesday and accepted the sanction proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.
Root was picked up by the stump mics while batting on the third day responding to an unheard comment from Gabriel. “Don’t use it as an insult,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
The incident was dealt with at the time by the on-field umpires but Gabriel was charged the following day after the footage received widespread attention. Root said at the close that things said on the field “should stay on the field”, but nevertheless received praise for his stance, including from UK equality charity Stonewall.
The charges were levelled by on-field umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena and third umpire Chris Gaffaney.
Level 2 breaches carry a penalty of between 50 -100 per cent of a player’s match fee or 1 or 2 suspension points. A guilty finding will also see either three or four demerit points added to the player’s disciplinary record.
Gabriel already had five demerit points against his name for two earlier incidents – three demerit points during the Jamaica Test against Pakistan in April 2017 and two demerit points in the Chittagong Test against Bangladesh last November. With the addition of these three 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.
Four suspension points equate to a ban from two Tests or four ODIs/T20Is, whatever comes first for the player.
Gabriel had earlier been suspended from the Mirpur Test in November 2018 when he reached the threshold of four demerit points.