Shannon Gabriel banned for four ODIs over sledging Root

75

West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been banned for the first four one-day internationals following his comments while attempting to sledge Root.

Gabriel, 30, accepted an International Cricket Council charge over comments he made to England captain Joe Root during the third Test in St Lucia.

In an attempt to sledge Root, the fast bowler referred to him being a ‘gay’. Inreply, Root told Gabriel: “Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

It takes Gabriel’s total demerit points to eight in a two-year period, resulting in a four-match ODI ban.

The original comment by Gabriel was not picked up and Root, 28, refused to explain after play on day three exactly what was said.

After England wrapped up victory by 232 runs on Tuesday, Root said he “just did what I thought was right”.

Gabriel was charged under article 2.13, which relates to the personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match.

By accepting the charge, Gabriel was fined 75% of his match fee and picked up three demerit points.

On-field umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena and third umpire Chris Gaffaney levelled the charge against Gabriel and, because he accepted the sanction of match referee Jeff Crowe, no formal hearing took place.

West Indies host England in a five-match ODI series starting on 20 February in Barbados. With injuries to both Rovman Powell and Keemo Paul, Gabriel was in contention to receive a call up. But the recent events will now see him miss the next four games.

Also Read:

Jonty Rhodes names Suresh Raina as his best fielder in modern era