Shannon Gabriel Has Been Suspended for 4 ODI’s Following Joe Root Incident

The fast bowler from the West Indies, Shannon Gabriel, has recently been handed by the ICC a four-game suspension due to his homophobic remark made at Joe Root during the Test in St Lucia. Gabriel plead guilty to this offence and was fined seventy-five percent of his fee and managed to receive 3 demerit points and that put him over the total points needed in terms of a ban.

Shannon Gabriel was also charged with a Level 2 offence which falls under the ICC’s Code of Conduct article 2.13 which covers personal abuse. Once Gabriel accepted the charge, there was not the need to undergo formal hearinga with Jeff Crowe who was the match referee. Even though Gabriel didn’t form part of the original team for the first of several ODI matches against England, he was part of the lineup due to being the one who replaced Keemo Paul.

The Joe Root Incident

Joe Root was heard by stump microphones while he was playing on the third day where he responded to a comment unheard from Shannon Gabriel. Joe Root stated: “You can’t use that as an insult. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with someone being gay.”

The Joe Root incident was handled by umpires on the field at the time it occurred, however Gabriel was only charged the next day following the widespread attention that the review of footage it received. Root stated towards the end that all comments on the field should stay on the field. However, he still received several praises for his stance which included the United Kingdom. equality charity Stonewall.

Gabriel’s Ban

Speaking to reporters before Gabriel’s ban occurred, Trevor Bayliss, the coach for England, repeated his outlook on stump microphones, stating that it should not be on off when deliveries occur. Sarfraz Ahmed also suffered a 4-game suspension when making a racist remark which was the television broadcast picked up.

“I’ve said this plenty of times in the past, I’m not in favour of stump microphones and I won’t change my mind on this matter,” he said. “If microphones on stumps were available a couple of years ago, there would have been plenty of players in trouble as well.

“I believe stump microphones should be removed. I am well aware that some believe that it’s ideal for the game. However, in the heat of battle there will always be words between players. Once that player has the time to think about what he/she said, they will undoubtedly kick themselves for what they said.”

Gabriel previously received 3 demerit point during April of 2017 for physical contact with Sarfraz Ahmed, and received another 2 in November of 2018 when he interfered with Imrul Kayes. When he accumulated over 4 points, he was banned for the test that followed in Dhaka. He currently has 8 points to his name within 2 years, converting to a total of 4 suspension points. This essentially means that he is banned from 2 Tests or 4 limited overs when it comes to internationals.