De Kock loses 75pc match fee for Tamim shoulder barge

Wicketkeeper of South Africa’s Test team Quinton de Kock has been fined 75 per cent of his match fee after being found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong on Wednesday. Quinton de Kock and Bangladesh batsman Tamim Iqbal were involved in a shoulder-barging incident at the stroke of lunch on the 2nd day of the five-day game at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in the port city. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper was found to have breached Article 2.2.7 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which relates to “Inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other Person (including a spectator) in the course of play during an International Match.” De Kock pleaded guilty to the charge laid by Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and the subsequent penalty was accepted without the need for a formal hearing. The charge had been laid by the on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Joel Wilson, as well as third umpire Paul Reiffel and fourth umpire Sharfuddoula. Wednesday’s incident: Tamim played out the last ball of the 30th over bowled by Simon Harmer, and as he turned around to head to the dressing room, he got involved in a conversation with de Kock. It soon descended into shoulder-barging, but South African captain Hashim Amla swiftly intervened and dispersed the crowd that was gathering around the umpires and Tamim. As the two teams separately walked off to the dressing-room, Dale Steyn put his arm around Tamim and had a word with him. The incident, however, was missed by the host broadcaster Gazi TV as they cut to commercial immediately after the over finished. The big screen at the ground showed some bits of the incident. The ICC Code of Conduct’s Article 2.2.7 relates to “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player, player support personnel, umpire, match referee or any other Person (including a spectator) in the course of play during an International Match”. It also adds that “without limitation, players will breach this regulation if they deliberately walk or run into or shoulder another player”, according to ESPNcricinfo. South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw was also involved in a shoulder barging incident with Tamim Iqbal during the Tigers v Proteas 2nd one-day international (ODI) match at Mirpur earlier this month. Rilee Rossouw, while walking to celebrate Tamim’s dismissal, shouldered the batsman in full view of the umpires. He was fined 50 per cent of his match fees. In June, Indian ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dholi was involved in a similar incident with Bangladesh’s fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman during India v Bangladesh series in Dhaka last month which caused a stir in cricket world. Both Dhoni and Mustafizur were booked by the ICC and the issue came to an end after cricket’s world governing body deducted an amount from their match fees, according to cricinfo.