Windies’ Shannon Gabriel could be banned for four ODIs after Joe Root exchange
Written by News on 13/02/2019
Windies’ Shannon Gabriel could be banned for four of the five ODIs against England if he is found guilty of using homophobic language in comments made to Joe Root.
Gabriel was charged by the ICC on Monday after he was warned by the on-field umpires in the third Test in St Lucia for comments made towards Root.
Root, in response, was heard by the Sky Sports microphones saying: “Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
England’s first ODI is in Bridgetown a week tomorrow and Gabriel will have learned his fate by then.
The charge is under article 2.13, which relates to the personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match.
Match referee Jeff Crowe will now propose a suitable sanction, which would see Gabriel being issued with a minimum fine of 50 per cent of his match fee, but could also see him banned for up to two Tests, or four ODIs.
Gabriel already has three demerit points on his ICC record, which is likely to make any punishment in this case more severe.
He was suspended for the second Test against Bangladesh in November, after deliberately bumping into batsman Imrul Kayes. And he was fined in April 2017 for his on-field behaviour against Pakistan.
Once told of his punishment, the bowler has three options: Either accept the charge and the sanction; accept the charge but dispute the severity of the sanction or deny the charge altogether – in either of the last two options, the matter would be resolved at a hearing with the Match Referee.
Root, who has received widespread praise for his role in the incident, said on Tuesday evening: “The ICC have got to handle things – I am not in a position to comment.”
(c) Sky News 2019: Windies’ Shannon Gabriel could be banned for four ODIs after Joe Root exchange
