LONDON – Proteas
fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been suspended for the second Test against
England at Trent Bridge
in Nottingham.
The 22-year-old from Johannesburg
breached the ICC code of conduct in giving England batsman Ben Stokes a “sending
off” with some expletives on day one of the four-Test series at Lord’s on
Thursday.
On Friday, Rabada was found guilty of breaching article 2.1.7 of the code,
which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or
which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her
dismissal during an international match”.
Rabada came into the Lord’s Test with three demerit points
within a 24-month period against his name following an altercation with Sri
Lankan left-handed batsman Niroshan Dickwella during a one-day international in
the South African summer earlier this year.
Now his altercation with Stokes gives him a fourth demerit
point – as well as a fine of 15 percent of his match fee – which means he won’t
be able to feature in the second England Test at Trent Bridge
from July 14-18.
Rabada accepted the sanction proposed by ICC match referee
Jeff Crowe.
The ICC said that Rabada used “inappropriate language” after
dismissing Stokes, “which were audible over the stump microphones and also
resulted in the batsman to turn before walking off the field”.
On-field umpires Paul Reiffel and S.
Ravi, third umpire Simon Fry and fourth official Rob Bailey
levelled the charges against Rabada.
The absence of the right-arm paceman for the second Test
would be a huge blow to an already-battling Proteas attack that conceded 458 in
the first innings at Lord’s.
Chris Morris is the next fast bowler in line for the
Proteas, with Duanne Olivier also in the squad.