Cricket:England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has been reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) following an incident at Lord's yesterday in which a dressingroom window was smashed.
Prior reacted angrily to being run out on the final day of the second Test against Sri Lanka and a window in the dressingroom was shattered, with a spectator in the members’ area suffering minor cuts from the broken glass.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said yesterday that it was an accident and that Prior had apologised to the spectator, but the ICC have now opted to sanction Prior.
A statement from the sport’s world governing body read: “England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC code of conduct during his team’s Test match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
“Prior accepted the Level 1 charge and the proposed sanction from Javagal Srinath of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees after an incident where a window was broken in the England team dressingroom.
“He was found to have breached clause 2.1.2 of the code which relates to ‘abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an international match’.
“The charge was brought by on-field umpires Billy Doctrove and Rod Tucker as well as third umpire Aleem Dar and fourth official Richard Illingworth.”
Srinath added: “Matt knows that his action was in breach of the code and he should be more careful in future. That said, it was clear that the damage he caused was purely accidental and without malice. It’s also noted that he apologised to the ground authority for the incident.”
Level 1 offences can be punished by a fine of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, but Prior’s acceptance of the charge means the punishment will not go beyond the reprimand.