The International Cricket Council slapped a 15% match fee as a fine on West Indian star bowler Jayden Seals after an aggressive celebration dismissing Australian captain Pat Cummins. This happened in the 55th over when Cummins mistimed a shot and Seals directed him to the dressing room as a means of celebration.
As per the ICC Code of Conduct, this violated the principles of showing respect to opponents. ICC promptly followed the incident involving Jayden Seales, penalizing him under Article 2.5 of its Code of Conduct. This clause addresses behavior that may provoke or incite a response from a batter who has just been dismissed.
Match referee Javagal Srinath, alongside umpires Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Adrian Holdstock, and Gregory Brathwaite, found Seales' gesture to be inappropriate and in breach of the code. Consequently:
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He was fined 15% of his match fee.
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One demerit point was added to his disciplinary record.
This marks Seales’ second breach within a 24-month span, raising his demerit point total to two. Accumulating two more within that timeframe could lead to a match suspension. The situation underscores the importance of maintaining discipline and emotional control on the field.
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Seales clarifies rage
The incident unfolded after Pat Cummins unleashed his aggressive nature and smacked 28 off 14 balls. After Day 2's play, Seales, however, shrugged off the heat, saying he just showed where Cummins belongs. Seals said,
"Pat hit a couple of good shots off me and I just showed him where the dressing room was. There wasn't really anything in it.”
Notably, Seales has been the star bowler from his side, with a fifer, with Shamar Joseph right behind him with four wickets after a denied fifer. Australia ended their first innings at 180, after a half-century from Travis Head (59) and Usman Khwaja scoring 47. Coming to bat second, West Indies took a lead of 10 runs, with two forties from Shai Hope (48) and Roston Chase (44).
Mitchell Starc took 3, while Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Beau Webster took 2 wickets each. Nathan Lyon managed 1 wicket only. Before the day ended, Australia was 4 down, scoring 92, having a lead of 82 runs.
