ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – the Barbados Pride cricket team and the Guyana Jaguars’ Leon Johnson and Nial Smith have been penalized for breaching the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Code of Conduct during the first half of the Regional Four-Day Championship, CWI confirmed yesterday.
Pride were fined for maintaining a slow over-rate against the Jaguars during their second-round match at Kensington Oval, from January 16 to 19. Johnson, the Jaguars captain, was fined while pacer Smith was reprimanded for Level 1 breaches of the Code – displaying behaviour that could be deemed as showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by action or verbal abuse – during the fourth-round match between Jaguars and Jamaica Scorpions at the Guyana National Stadium from February 6 to 9.
Pride were reported by field umpires Danesh Ramdhanie and Christopher Taylor, as well as reserve umpire Troy Tudor, for being three overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
Under the regulations, minor over-rate offences occur when a team fails to bowl one to five overs short of their target in the allotted time.
The fine for a captain is 10 percent of his match fee for every over his side fails to bowl in the allotted time. Other team members are penalized five percent of their match fee for every over the team fails to bowl in the allotted time.
As a result, Pride captain Kraigg Brathwaite was fined 30 percent of his match fee and the other members of the squad were fined 15 percent of their fees.
Brathwaite pleaded guilty to the offence after the match and accepted the proposed sanction from CWI match referee Stephen Proverbs.
Johnson and Smith also admitted to their respective offences and accepted the sanctions after being reported by field umpires Zahid Bassarath and Deighton Butler, and reserve umpire Ryan Banwarie.
Match referee Colin Stuart fined Johnson 15 per cent of his match fee for the breach of Section 2.4 of the Code during the Jaguars’ second innings, when he was dismissed. The umpires reported that he stood his ground before leaving the wicket and waved his hands in anger while walking away, when he was given out lbw in the 16th over.
Stuart gave Smith a reprimand for the same breach of the Code, which also occurred during the same innings, when the pacer was dismissed.
The umpires reported that Smith stood his ground before leaving the wicket and made a questionable remark, when he was adjudged lbw in the 85th over.
The sanctions that could have been imposed on Johnson and Smith for their Level 1 breaches were: an official warning/reprimand and/or fine of up to the equivalent of 50 per cent of player or team official’s match fee.
