Broad fined after outburst

England captain Stuart Broad has been fined for criticising umpires for not halting his team’s World Twenty20 opener against New Zealand sooner due to lightning.

The International Cricket Council imposed the fine, which is 15 percent of Broad’s match fee, after Broad called the decision by umpires Aleem Dar and Paul Reiffel to continue the match ‘distinctly average’.

New Zealand beat England by nine runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method after rain finally forced stoppage of the match.

New Zealand were 52-1 in 5.2 overs when rain stopped play, ahead on run rate in response to England’s 172-6.

The Duckworth-Lewis method requires at least 5 overs to be bowled by each side.

“To be as polite as I possibly can be, I think it was distinctly average decision-making, keeping us on after the first lightning strike at the start of the fifth over, keeping us on throughout that,” Broad said after the match.

“I asked the umpires for a bit of clarity on the decision-making at the end of the game, and they said they didn’t see the lightning and didn’t think it was a threat,” Broad said.

Bad for game

Broad said he believed the match should have been stopped before the fifth over and pleaded guilty to a Level 1 charge of publicly criticising match officials.

The ICC match referee Javagal Srinath said such criticism was not good for the spirit of the game.

“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,” Srinath said in a statement.