Peterson reprimanded by ICC for his on-field behaviour

Georgetown, Guyana, Mar 30 (UNI) South African left-arm spinner Robin Peterson has been officially reprimanded for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct following his reaction after he scored the winning runs during his country's nail bitting one-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their Super Eight match in Guyana.

Peterson was pleaded guilty to the Level 1 charge, laid by the four umpires of the match under clause 1.2 of the ICC Code which refers to ''Abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings''.

While, explaining his decision to reprimand the South African spinner after a hearing yesterday, ICC match referee Jeff Crowe said, ''After the incident Robin apologised to the on-field umpires and the umpires expressed the view that there was no malice involved in his actions.'' Peterson was seen hiting the stumps at the non-striker's end with his bat as he ran off the ground after the high pressure game on Wednesday.

''Although, I accepted that it was a momentary mistake in the heat of the moment, still all players have a responsibility to maintain the highest standard of behaviour, no matter what the situation is, as that is part and parcel of being a high-profile sportsman and hitting the stumps with the bat is not acceptable at any time,'' said the former New Zealand batsman who is presently a member of ICC's match referee panel.

Crowe further added that Peterson's action could easily have damaged a very expensive and highly sensitive piece of television equipment - the stump camera.

UNI