ICC fines Broad for criticising match officials

England captain Stuart Broad was Sunday fined 15 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after pleading guilty to a Level 1 charge of publicly criticising match officials following his team's Group 1 encounter against New Zealand.

After the match Saturday, Broad was found to have breached Article 2.1.7 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 or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match official or team participating in any International Match".

On Sunday evening, Broad admitted the offence and accepted the proposed sanction offered to him by ICC Match Referees Javagal Srinath.

The charge related to comments made by Broad following his side's loss to New Zealand as per the Duckworth-Lewis Method in a match reduced by rain.

Explaining his decision, Srinath said: "Umpires are the final judges of the fitness of the ground, weather or light for play. Weather decisions are the most difficult to make, but the umpires make the best decision possible, taking all factors into account. Such public criticism is not good for the spirit of the game. Mutual respect between players, match officials and administrators is paramount to the game of cricket."

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Aleem Dar, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth umpire S. Ravi.

The range of permissible sanctions for all first Level 1 offences is a warning or reprimand and/or the imposition of a fine of up to 50 percent of the applicable match fee.