Gayle fined 70% of match fee

Captain of the West Indies team Chris Gayle has been fined 70 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.

Gayle was found to have breached Level 2.11 of the ICC Code which relates to unfair play due to his side bowling its overs too slowly. The verdict was issued following a hearing conducted by ICC Match Referee Chris Broad after play concluded on Sunday.

The other players in the West Indies team were each fined 35 per cent of their match fees for the same offence. The team was found to have been six overs short of the required over-rate, an offence to which Gayle pleaded not guilty.

“During the hearing, neither the captain, coach nor manager was able to persuade me that the shortfall in overs was beyond their control or that the allowances permitted to teams by the match officials were not appropriate,” said Broad. The charge was brought by match officials Simon Taufel and Billy Bowden of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires.