West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been banned slapped with a four-match One-Day International (ODI), by cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), after being found guilty of player abuse.
Gabriel, 30, was also hit with a 75 percent fine and three demerit points for the incident, which took place during England’s second innings on day three of the third and final Test in St. Lucia last week.
He was found guilty of breaching article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “personal abuse of a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire or Match Referee, during an international match,” following an incident with England’s Captain, Joe Root, the ISS said in a statement.
The ICC did not say what Gabriel said to Root, nor did the stump microphones pick up his comments but according to media reports, Root was overheard telling Gabriel in response, Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
Gabriel admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction set out by match referee, Jeff Crowe.
England pulled off a 232-run victory.
This was Gabriel’s second ban in four months after he was suspended for the second Test against Bangladesh last November.
The ban covers the first four ODI of the upcoming five-match series against England starting later this month.
