Stokes fined by ICC after foul language rant
Image : Getty
|| Desk Report ||
England all-rounder Ben Stokes was fined and given a demerit point by the International Cricket Council Saturday after a foul-mouthed row with a spectator Friday in the Test match against South Africa.
Stokes was shown on television exchanging insults with a spectator as he walked off the field after being caught cheaply for two runs in England’s first innings on the opening day of the fourth and final Test at The Wanderers, known as “the bullring” for its often hostile atmosphere.
He was fined 15% of his match fee and given a demerit point after being charged by the ICC with a level one offence of “use of an audible obscenity”.
Stokes admitted the offence and accepted the sanction, the ICC said.
He apologized several hours after the incident, while Ashley Giles, managing director for England men’s cricket said other England personnel had been abused and issued a strong condemnation.
Giles said Stokes was not the only one to suffer abuse and made a request for the stadium to beef up security around the England team.
Stokes is the latest in a long list of players to have spats with spectators at The Wanderers, where there is a long walk from the dressing rooms to the pitch, alongside a grassy bank often filled with boozy spectators.
Television pictures did not show Stokes being insulted but did show him swearing in response to obvious provocation.
