The International Cricket Council(ICC) has fined England Cricket team all-rounder Ben Stokes for violating the ICC code of conduct relating to players and player support personnel during the second test against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Sunday.
According to a media release from the ICC, Ben Stokes was fined 15 percent of his match fee and was also handed one demerit point. As per the ICC rules, if a player gets four or more demerit points in a period of 24-months, they will be automatically converted to suspension points. Every two suspension points will equal to ban in one Test match or two ODIs or two T20s.
The incident took place in the first session of the third day’s play between Bangladesh and England when Ben Stokes verbally engaged with Bangladesh cricketer Sabbir Rahman despite repeated requests from onfield umpires Kumara Dharmasena and S.Ravi. The umpires have also instructed England’s skipper Alastair Cook to look into Ben Stoke’s actions.
The charges on Stokes were laid by the onfield umpires and third umpire Chris Gaffaney. After due consultations with the umpires, match referee Ranjan Madugalle recommended the ICC to punish Ben Stokes for breaching the ICC code of conduct.
The England all-rounder had admitted the offense and accepted the sanctions proposed by the ICC officials. Reports said that Stokes was also warned by the England captain for crossing the limits during the final test against Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh cricket team has on Sunday created history by winning its first ever Test match against England by a margin of 108 runs. The win also helped Bangladesh to level the series 1-1.