Stuart Broad penalized for 'inappropriate' twitter comments

England fast bowler Stuart Broad has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval.

Broad was found to have violated Article 2.1.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match".

Following the first day's play on Thursday and referring to the umpires' decision to give Alex Hales out caught by Yasir Shah off Mohammad Amir, Broad made inappropriate comments in regard to the umpires' decision via his twitter feed.

After the close of third day's play on Saturday, Broad admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Richie Richardson of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC match referees. As such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

Explaining his decision, Richardson said: "One of the most fundamental principles of the sport is to always accept and respect an umpire's decision. In this case, Stuart ignored this golden rule and made inappropriate comments in regard to the umpires' decision."

All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of a warning/reprimand and/or the imposition of a fine of up to 50 per cent of the applicable match fee.