England vs South Africa 2017: Ban on Kagiso Rabada Ridiculous and Harsh – Graeme Smith
Jul 8, 2017 at 5:59 PM
The Story:
South Africa will be without Kagiso Rabada in the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge after the right-arm fast bowler was suspended after he was sanctioned by the ICC for giving Ben Stokes a rude send-off on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s.
Rabada was handed one demerit point and also a fine of 15 % of his match fees for yelling ‘f**k off’ after dismissing the English all-rounder for 56. The demeaning words were caught on record and the umpires also had a quick chat with the youngster after the wicket celebrations were over.
Second Offence This Year
Under normal circumstances, the punishment wouldn’t have been as serious as a ban. However, Rabada has been a repeated offender and already had three demerit points after a verbal tussle with Niroshan Dickwella during the ODI in Cape Town in February.
Four demerit points automatically meant that a one match ban was awaiting the cricket once he was back in the dressing room.
An ICC statement said:
“During the opening day’s play in the Lord’s Test against England on Thursday, Rabada was found guilty of breaching article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Player and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”
“Thursday’s incident related to Rabada using inappropriate language after dismissing England batsman Ben Stokes, which were audible over the stump microphones and also resulted in the batsman to turn before walking off the field.”
Graeme Smith Unhappy
Former skipper South Africa captain Graeme Smith has criticised the decision made by the ICC. Smith agreed that expletives picked by the stump mic were rude and the punishment was announced based on the collective offences and not due to the Lord’s act alone. However, he felt that a one match ban was bit harsh.
“It’s ridiculous,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo. “No-one wrote about it, no-one spoke about it. It was only because it was on the stump mic that it’s become a thing.”
“It could have been handled better. I don’t think it was aimed at Ben Stokes. I just think it was out of frustration. If it wasn’t picked up by the stump mics he wouldn’t have been done,” Smith said on Test Match Special.
Also Read: (Kagiso Rabada suspended for the second Test against South Africa by ICC)