Holder suspended, fined for second minor over-rate offence

West Indies skipper Jason Holder was on Monday suspended for one Test and fined 40 per cent of his match fee by the ICC for maintaining a slow over-rate during the second Test against England that ended on Saturday.

Also, the West Indians players were fined 20 per cent of their match fees, an ICC statement said.

Jeff Crowe of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the suspension on Holder after the Windies were ruled to be two overs short of their target after time allowances were taken into consideration.

In accordance with Article 2.22.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel, which relates to minor over-rate offences, players are fined 10 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.

Holder had previously been found guilty of a minor over-rate offence during the Barbados Test against Sri Lanka last June.

Therefore, this offence constituted his second minor over-rate offence in a Test match within a 12-month period.

In-form Holder will now miss the third Test against England in St. Lucia, which starts on February 9.

There was no formal hearing as Holder pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction.

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Chris Gaffaney, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth official Joel Wilson.

--IANS

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