Dubai/ London: The International Cricket Council (ICC) today said that it has received the Judicial Commissioner's detailed report on the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja altercation and was considering its future course of action.
"The ICC confirms that it has received and is considering the written decision of His Honor Gordon Lewis AM, the Judicial Commissioner, in respect of his findings that England’s James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja of India were not guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct and Player Support Personnel, following an exhaustive disciplinary hearing which was held in Southampton on Friday," the ICC said in a statement.
As per Section 8.3.2 of the ICC Code of Conduct, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson has seven days until Sunday, August 10 - to consider whether to lodge an appeal against the decision.
"The ICC will make no further comment on this matter until the decision has been made," the statement said.
The Judicial Commissioner Gordon Lewis's verdict came as a huge relief for Anderson, who faced the prospect of a two-Test ban if he had been found guilty of a Level 3 offence but India were left red-faced after team manager Sunil Dev pressed for the charges.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also vocal about the incident in the press conference. Anderson was accused of pushing and abusing Jadeja during the second day of the first Test at Trent Bridge on July 10. England had also pressed for a Level 2 charge against Jadeja as a counter move.
The Indians alleged that Anderson pushed and abused Jadeja when the players were leaving the ground for the lunch break and pressed with the charge. The England team then filed a counter charge against Jadeja but match referee David Boon downgraded it to a level 1 offence and docked him 50 percent of his match fee.
Although it is an non-appealable offence, the Indians appealed against the verdict and the ICC accepted the plea.
India complain to ICC over decision to clear James Anderson:
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) is unhappy with a judicial commissioner’s decision to clear the England fast bowler James Anderson of a code of conduct breach and has written to the sport’s governing body to express disappointment.
Anderson and India’s Ravindra Jadeja were involved in a verbal altercation during the first Test at Trent Bridge last month and media reports suggested the heated dispute continued after they left the field.
Both players were found not guilty after a six-hour video conference hearing on Friday and, under the rules, only the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive, Dave Richardson, can appeal against the commissioner’s verdict.
“What we have done is we’ve written a letter to the ICC saying we are not happy with the verdict,” the BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told Reuters, denying the game’s most powerful board had requested Richardson to appeal.
“We don’t have a right to appeal in this case,” Patel added.
ICC officials were not immediately available for comment on this issue which could have resulted in a four-Test ban for Anderson, England’s second-highest ever wicket taker, if a guilty verdict had been returned.
The fourth Test of the five-match series starts at Old Trafford on Thursday with the teams tied at 1-1.
