Ponting fined after win

28 June 2008

Ricky Ponting was fined on his 300th one-day appearance at St George's

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has been fined 30% of his match fee for a show of dissent in Friday’s one-day international against the West Indies in St George’s.

Ponting, who was appearing in his 300th ODI, made clear his displeasure at umpire Norman Malcolm when he turned down Australian appeals for an lbw decision against Patrick Browne in the 23rd over.

The decision had little impact on the game, which Australia won easily by 63 runs via the Duckworth/Lewis method to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

The fine was announced by the ICC early on Saturday after a hearing that was held following the game.

Ponting was charged under clause 1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct which refers to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision”, to which he had pleaded not guilty.

“A captain needs to set the example and it’s not acceptable for any player, let alone a captain, to show dissent at an umpire’s decision,” said Roshan Mahanama of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees in announcing the decision.

“In the preamble to the Laws of Cricket the captains are expected to set the tone of a cricket match and a captain must set that tone for the rest of his team.

“Although the player pleaded not guilty, after scrutinising the video footage and taking into consideration the evidence submitted by the umpires I found that his actions were in breach of ICC’s Code of Conduct and decided to fine him 30% of his match fee.”