Shannon Gabriel banned for four ODIs

SOURCE: BBC: West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been banned for the first four one-day internationals against England.

Gabriel, 30, accepted an International Cricket Council charge over comments he made to England captain Joe Root during the third Test in St Lucia.

In reply, Root told Gabriel: “Don’t use it as an insult. There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

It takes Gabriel’s total demerit points to eight in a two-year period, resulting in a four-match ODI ban.

West Indies host England in a five-match ODI series starting on 20 February in Barbados.

Gabriel was due to be rested for the start of the ODI series but was added back into the squad following injuries to Rovman Powell and Keemo Paul

The original comment by Gabriel was not picked up and Root, 28, refused to explain after play on day three exactly what was said.

After England wrapped up victory by 232 runs on Tuesday, Root said he “just did what I thought was right”.

Gabriel was charged under article 2.13, which relates to the personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match.

By accepting the charge, Gabriel was fined 75% of his match fee and picked up three demerit points.

On-field umpires Rod Tucker and Kumar Dharmasena and third umpire Chris Gaffaney levelled the charge against Gabriel and, because he accepted the sanction of match referee Jeff Crowe, no formal hearing took place.

He already had five demerit points from two previous incidents.

Gabriel received three demerit points for making physical contact with Pakistan’s Sarfaraz Ahmed in a Test in April 2017 before picking up two more for shoulder-barging Imrul Kayes during the first Test against Bangladesh in November, which saw him banned for the second Test in that series. (BBC)