JOIN USIndia’s Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code for Players and Player Support Personnel for his involvement in an incident with James Anderson during the second day of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge on July 10.
Match referee David Boon, who conducted the hearing on Thursday night here, found Jadeja guilt under Article 2.1.8, relating to conduct contrary to the spirit of the game. However, this was not the original charge made against him by the English manager Phil Neale. Jadeja had originally been charged with the breach of Article 2.2.11.
Commenting on his decision, Boon said: “Under Article 6.1 of the Code, I had to be comfortably satisfied that the offence had occurred in order to find Jadeja guilty of an offence under Article 2.2.11.
“While I was in no doubt that 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. Therefore, in exercising my discretion under Article 7.6.5 of the Code and having heard all the evidence, I was comfortably satisfied that Jadeja had committed a level 1 offence under Article 2.1.8 of the Code.”
The hearing was attended by both the players, their legal counsels, witnesses as well as BCCI’s MV Sridhar, Phil Neale and Paul Downton of the ECB, and the ICC’s Ethics & Regulatory Lawyer.
During the hearing, Boon included oral statements by the players, video footage and cross-examination of the witnesses by Kendrah Potts, counsel representing the ECB, and Jonathan Ellis, who represented Jadeja.
BCCI unhappy
Meanwhile, the BCCI said it was not satisfied with the verdict. “The BCCI wishes to make it clear that it is not satisfied with the verdict. The BCCI reserves its right to appeal against the sentence. The BCCI believes that Jadeja was not at fault, and supports him fully,” said Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary.