Anderson-Jadeja row continues to simmer ahead of fourth Test

Rory Dollard 05:25 05/08/2014
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  • Testing times: Anderson and Jadeja (r) dispute has created a rift between the teams.

    The row over James Anderson’s al­tercation with Ravindra Jadeja may have resulted in both parties being cleared but it will continue to cast a shadow over this week’s fourth Test.

    Leaked excerpts from the discipli­nary commissioner’s verdict and the possibility of an appeal mean the is­sue refuses to go away.

    On Friday retired Australian judge Gordon Lewis, an independ­ent appointee of the International Cricket Council, heard represen­tations from both sides during a lengthy teleconference conducted after England’s series-levelling win at the Ageas Bowl.

    Lewis decided there was insuf­ficient evidence to uphold India’s claim that Anderson pushed Jadeja in the Trent Bridge pavilion dur­ing the first Test and was guilty of breaching Level 3 of the ICC code.

    Had he concluded otherwise, the pace bowler was facing a ban of up to four Tests. For his part in the affair, Jadeja saw previously levied fine overturned by Lewis on appeal.

    Both national boards would have been hoping for that to be the end of the matter, with the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Board of Control for Cricket in India hav­ing initially hoped to settle the mat­ter behind the scenes.

    But such is the interest in the growing enmity be­tween the teams – focusing around the blunt figure of Anderson – that seems unlikely to happen.

    Indeed, the matter cannot be con­sidered closed until Friday – day two of the fourth Test.

    That is when the deadline for an official ICC appeal against Lewis’ findings, which would have to be laid by chief executive Dave Richardson, expires.

    Nevertheless, numerous outlets have carried alleged leaked extracts of the ruling, which add some note­worthy colour – and colourful lan­guage – to relations between the sides.

    One extensive passage, as car­ried by Indian broadcaster NDTV, outlines Indian claims that Ander­son abused and pushed Jadeja in the back, threatened to knock out his teeth and called touring captain MS Dhoni “a f***ing fat c***” – the latter insult having been noted by umpire Bruce Oxenford.

    England argued Anderson had not pushed Jadeja and instead reacted defensively to Jadeja turning and confronting him at the bottom of the stairwell.

    The NDTV extract also quotes Lewis as concluding: “Obvi­ously one version of the facts must be untrue, but the existing CCTV image is unhelpful and the witness­es hopelessly biased in favour of one party or the other.

    “In short, I do not know on the evidence, and to the relevant stand­ard of proof, what happened in the corridor leading to the stairway in those few seconds after the batsmen and fielding side came in for lunch. I cannot be comfortably satisfied as to the truth of either version of the evidence.”

    Lewis finished by highlighting perceived deficiencies in the ICC disciplinary code and calling for at­tention.

    He wrote: “As a newly ap­pointed Judicial Commissioner, I urge the ICC to conduct an immedi­ate review of its Code of Conduct, as these proceedings have highlighted a number of inadequacies in the Code and situations with which it cannot easily cope. That concludes the reasons for my decisions.”

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