Nel fined for abusive gestures
Andre Nel's impressive Test comeback was marred after he was fined half his match fee for making offensive gestures at Chris Gayle, the West Indian batsman, during their second innings at the Wanderers
Wisden Cricinfo staff
16-Dec-2003
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Watch what you do with those hands, Andre © Getty Images |
Andre Nel's impressive Test comeback was marred after he was fined half his match fee for making offensive gestures at Chris Gayle, the West Indian batsman, during their second innings at the Wanderers.
After Gayle edged Nel to Mark Boucher, Nel stuck his tongue out at Gayle and then sent him off with some crude language. The incident did not go unnoticed by Brian Jerling, the third umpire, who reported it to Ranjan Madugalle, the match referee.
Nel, who pleaded guilty to the offence, was charged under section 1.4 of
the ICC players' code of conduct, which concerns "using language that is
obscene, offensive or insulting, and/or the making of obscene gestures".
That wasn't all. Both teams and their captains were fined for a slow over-rate, with South Africa losing 15% of their match fee, and West Indies being docked 5%. That figure was doubled for the captains - Graeme Smith was fined 30% of his match fee, while Brian Lara lost 10%.