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THE India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for his part in the confrontation with England’s Jimmy Anderson during the first Test at Trent Bridge this month.
India reacted by expressing their unhappiness at the verdict and indicating they would appeal. The Indian board issued a statement saying: “The BCCI wishes to make it clear that it is not satisfied with the verdict. The BCCI reserves its right to appeal against the sentence. The BCCI believes that Mr Ravindra Jadeja was not at fault, and supports him fully.”

Jadeja will lose approximately £3,500 after the judgment from the match referee, David Boon, following a two-and-a-half hour hearing in India’s team hotel in Southampton on Thursday.

The Australian downgraded the original level-two charge against Jadeja but found him guilty of a level-one offence under Article 2.1.8 of the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, which relates to “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”.

Boon said: “Under Article 6.1 of the code, I had to be comfortably satisfied that the offence had occurred in order to find Mr Jadeja guilty of an offence under Article 2.2.11.

“While I was in no doubt that confrontation did occur, and that such conduct was not in the spirit of the game and should not have taken place, I was not comfortably satisfied that this was a level-two offence. Therefore, in exercising my discretion under Article 7.6.5 of the code and having heard all the evidence, I was comfortably satisfied that Mr Jadeja had committed a level-one offence under Article 2.1.8 of the code.”

Anderson, who has been charged with a level-three offence, will have his case heard next Friday, the day after the scheduled finish of the third Test in Southampton.

It is difficult to read too much into Boon’s verdict against Jadeja because Anderson’s hearing will be chaired by the Australian judicial commissioner, Gordon Lewis. That is because the seriousness of Anderson’s charge meant it could not be dealt with by the match referee and has instead been referred.

The 31-year-old faces a suspension of between two and four Tests if found guilty of the level-three charge. However, the England and Wales Cricket Board remains confident he will escape such a severe punishment.

Boon’s verdict on Jadeja seems to tally with England’s insistence that the incident which occurred during the lunch interval on day two at Trent Bridge was minor.

India, apparently on the insistence of their captain, MS Dhoni, pushed through their complaint against Anderson despite attempts by senior figures on both boards to sort out the disagreement in house. At the heart of India’s unhappiness with the England bowler is the allegation he physically pushed Jadeja as their argument continued from the field up on to the narrow staircase which leads up to the dressing rooms in the Trent Bridge pavilion.

The prevailing mood in the England camp is that India are making a stand on Anderson more because of what they perceive as his prickly behaviour against them over the years rather than what actually happened in Nottingham. Lewis will have the final say on the matter , although England will hope he will follow Boon’s lead with Jadeja and downgrade any punishment.

Yet Anderson could still face a ban of one Test even if he is found guilty of a lesser level-two breach of the ICC’s code of conduct. With the fourth Test of the series at his home ground of Old Trafford, Anderson and England will hope it does not come to that. — The Guardian