(BBC) Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi will miss the first of two Twenty20 internationals against England in Dubai after biting the ball in a one-day match in Perth.
Afridi was caught on camera as he found a novel way to alter the state of the ball, and the umpires changed it before Australia wrapped up a 5-0 series win.
He was banned for two Twenty20 games, starting with the one-off match against Australia in Melbourne on Friday.
He then misses out against England at Dubai’s Sports City on 19 February.
All-rounder Afridi was skippering Pakistan, as a stand-in for Mohammad Yousuf, in Sunday’s day-nighter when the incident occurred.
Television footage showed him grasping the ball in both hands on two separate occasions and scraping his teeth across the leather, before tossing it on to the bowler.
Cricketers have for many years tried to scuff up one side or raise the seam to make the ball behave differently, though it is an illegal practice.
Afridi said afterwards: “I am ashamed. I did it in the heat of the moment as the match was a close one, but I should not have done that, it’s a serious offence.
“I apologise to all and everyone involved in the match and to the fans around the world. This will never happen again.”
The ICC said in a statement that Afridi had been charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of its code of conduct which relates to “changing the condition of the ball”.
ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who handed Afridi the maximum penalty available, said: “Afridi, when pleading guilty, apologised and regretted his actions.”
In 2005, Afridi was banned for one Test and two one-day internationals for deliberately scuffing up the wicket with his spikes in a match against England in Faisalabad.
Afridi is officially the new Twenty20 captain, but that role may have to revert to Shoaib Malik, the captain across all three formats early last year.
Younus Khan, who led Pakistan to ICC World Twenty20 glory in England last summer, has retired from the shortest version of the game.
