ICC World Twenty20: England captain Stuart Broad fined after outburst
England captain Stuart Broad has been fined after the World Twenty20 match against New Zealand.
Last Updated: 24/03/14 6:05am
Broad felt players and fans were put in danger by the decision to keep the teams on the field while lightning struck close to the ZACS Stadium in Chittagong and considered leading his side off in protest.
England lost the match on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations after New Zealand had reached 51-1 from 5.2 overs in pursuit of the 173 target Broad's men had set.
On Sunday the International Cricket Council said Broad had pleaded guilty to a Level 1 charge, having breached Article 2.1.7 of the ICC code of conduct for players and player support personnel.
That article relates to "public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match or any player, player support personnel, match official or team participating in any international match".
Broad responded on Twitter: "Shame to be fined. Back to bland and unopinionated press conferences I'm afraid. Draw a line onto the next game!"
Javagal Srinath, the match referee who sanctioned Broad, said in a statement released by the ICC: "Umpires are the final judges of the fitness of the ground, weather or light for play. Weather decisions are the most difficult to make, but the umpires make the best decision possible, taking all factors into account.
Spirit of the game
"Such public criticism is not good for the spirit of the game. Mutual respect between players, match officials and administrators is paramount to the game of cricket."
Broad had said on Saturday evening: "To be as polite as I possibly can be I think it was distinctly average decision-making keeping us on after the first lightning strike at the start of the fifth over, keeping us on throughout that.
"I asked the umpires for a bit of clarity on the decision-making at the end of the game and they said they didn't see the lightning and didn't think it was a threat; you can guarantee from our team we felt like it was a threat. With a batsman pulling away from a delivery after 4.2 overs I think the batsman saw it as well.
"At the end of the day it's a game of cricket so I wouldn't be putting the crowd and players' safety under threat."
Lives at stake
However, Broad's stance drew support from team-mate Michael Lumb.
"I think Stuart covered it in detail but, from a personal point of view, you don't mess around with lightning," the opener said on Sunday morning, before the ICC decision to fine Broad was announced.
"There are lives at stake. It was literally right above us and it was pretty scary. It would have been a different story if we were waking up this morning talking about guys who were struck by lightning.
"If we were on a golf course, we'd probably have been taken off. It's a serious thing and it's not to be messed with. I'd have been quite happy to go off the field (earlier)."