England v West Indies, 2nd ODI, Edgbaston

Anderson fined for Morton exchange

Cricinfo staff

July 5, 2007

James Anderson and Runako Morton go toe to toe - Anderson was subsequently fined 50% of his match fee after being found guilty of barging into Morton © Getty Images

The incident occurred during the closing stages of West Indies' innings when, after finishing an over, Anderson dropped his shoulder into Morton as the batsman completed a run. Morton reacted to the incident by pointing his bat at Anderson and Brian Jerling, the umpire, had to step in to keep the players apart. When Morton was dismissed, Anderson gave him a send-off to the pavilion.

Both players appeared in front of match referee Mike Procter on Wednesday night and, while Anderson was hit with the penalty, Morton was found not guilty of breaching the code of conduct.

"I have no problem with players being aggressive on the field because our game is all about passion and commitment," said Procter. "But, at the same time, they have to recognize they are role models watched by people all over the world.

"Cricket is, after all, a non-contact sport and when players fail to recognise that fact and engage in needless nudges, the type of which we saw yesterday, then that is where we have to draw the line."

Anderson's 10-over spell went for 78 runs, his most expensive analysis in ODIs, and his last four overs cost 50 against a fired up Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels.

Following the match England captain Paul Collingwood said: "To be perfectly honest, I don't mind the boys getting stuck if they need to get stuck in. I don't mind that at all. That's cricket. Simple as that."

Chris Gayle, his opposite number, also shrugged off the incidents, insisting there was nothing personal at stake. "These guys have been playing cricket against each other for quite some time now," he said. "We were just trying to get on top of them as early as possible and they did the same thing, so it was a little bit of give-and-take. I hope no-one takes it too seriously."

It was a heated encounter throughout with Daren Powell also becoming involved in verbal exchanges with the England batsmen.

Stuart Broad was also found to have breached clause 1.1 of the code, which concerns the ICC logo policy, and was handed a reprimand. Broad wore a visible white garment under his playing shirt on Wednesday, something not permitted under clothing regulations. West Indies won by 61 runs to level the series.

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