West Indies National Cricket Team pacer Alzarri Joseph has been penalized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his antics during the first ODI against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team. The match between the two teams took place in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Alzarri Joseph has breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel. This relates to the “use of an audible obscenity.” This came after the West Indies National Cricket Team pacer exchanged some words with the umpire.
Joseph used offensive and abusive language during an exchange with the fourth umpire
Alzarri Joseph, ahead of the start of the play, used offensive and abusive language during an exchange with the fourth umpire. The pacer was warned by the official to avoid stepping onto the pitch with his spikes on, which prompted the inappropriate language.
However, this didn’t go well with the fast bowler as he was seen arguing with the umpire. For this, Alzarri Joseph was fined 25% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
According to the rules of the ICC, Level 1 breaches under the ICC Code of Conduct carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
Alzarri Joseph admitted to the offence and agreed to the proposed penalty by the match officials
Not only this, he also received one demerit point. This was his second offence in the last 24 months, with the first one being during the ODI series against the England National Cricket Team. The sanctions were accepted by Alzarri Joseph, who admitted to the offence and agreed to the proposed penalty by the match officials.
This decision was made in consultation with Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, and no formal hearing was deemed necessary. On-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Asif Yaqoob, and fourth umpire Gregory Braithwaite levelled the charges.
West Indies National Cricket Team won the game by 5 wickets, Alzarri Joseph took two wickets for the team
Coming to the first match, West Indies National Cricket Team won the game by a massive margin of 5 wickets. They restricted the opposition to a total of 294 runs and chased the target inside 48 overs on the back of a century by Sherfane Rutherford.
Joseph had a decent outing with the ball in the first ODI. The fast bowler picked up two wickets and gave away 67 runs. He would be hoping to come up with a better performance in the next game as West Indies would be eyeing a series win. The next match of the series will be played on Tuesday (10th December). It remains to be seen if the hosts win the second game of the series or not.
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