CPL players Tino Best of the St. Lucia Zouks and Shoaib Malik of the Barbados Tridents have been fined following an on-field verbal altercation between the two cricketers which occurred on Wednesday.
The incident occurred during a CPL match between the two teams at Kensington Oval. Charges were laid by on-field umpires Joel Wilson and Gregory Brathwaite under the relevant section of the WICB Code of Conduct which is the governing code for the CPL. The charges laid by the on-field umpires were as follows:
- Tino Best was found to have breached Article 2.1.8 of the Code of Conduct which relates to “conduct that either (a) is contrary to the spirit of the game; or (b) brings the game into disrepute. This is a Level One offence. As a result, Tino Best was charged 10% of his match fee.
- Tino Best was found to have breached Article 2.2.8 of the Code of Conduct which relates to “using language or a gesture(s) that is seriously obscene, seriously offensive or of a seriously insulting nature to another player. This is a Level Two offence. As a result, Tino Best was charged 50% of his match fee.
- Shoaib Malik was found to have breached Article 2.2.4 of the Code of Conduct which relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact between players in the course of play during an International Match”. This is a Level Two offence. As a result, Shoaib Malik was charged 50% of his match fee.
Both players pleaded guilty to the charges laid against them. As a consequence of this, Match Referee, Denovan Hayles, was not required to hold any hearings into the incident and the fines have been levied against both players.
In addition, there was a further incident which took place after the match at the players’ hotel. While this is being currently investigated, the CPL management can confirm that the incident was minor and no one was injured.
The management of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League would like to take this opportunity to thank the Match Referee for his prompt handling of this incident and to restate its commitment to protecting the integrity of the tournament and the sport.
That’s the idea zero tolerance on that kind of behaviour in sports. Hope this is a lesson to other players.