Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday urged all relevant parties to respect the judicial process in relation to the alleged incident that took place during the first Test at Trent Bridge, which has resulted in charges being brought against England’s James Anderson and India’s Ravindra Jadeja.
In a statement, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “England captain Alastair Cook and, more recently, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have made public comments relating to the alleged incident that took place during the first Test at Trent Bridge, the latter of which is critical of and undermines the ICC disciplinary process.
“The ICC would also like to reiterate its full support of the process followed and respect for the decision made by David Boon. ICC Code of Conduct hearings of this nature are, generally speaking, difficult processes to work through, with detailed legal submissions, witness statements and oral witness testimony.
“We are satisfied that Mr Boon carefully and comprehensively considered the evidence and submissions presented to him at the hearing, which included conflicting evidence from both sides, prior to making his decision.
“In legal matters such as this, the ICC takes extremely seriously its duty as administrators of the game. Therefore, I request all stakeholders to respect the process, which remains ongoing, and remind them of their duties to the integrity of the process and the sport so that we can focus on the game of cricket itself.”
The hearing of England bowler Anderson will be held on Friday in Southampton and will be conducted by the Judicial Commissioner, Gordon Lewis.
Jadeja was fined 50 per cent of his match fee on Friday after being found guilty of “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”. Dhoni on Saturday branded the decision to fine the all-rounder as ‘hurtful’, saying Jadeja was an innocent party.
