West Indies vs New Zealand 2014: Tim Southee fined 30% of his match fee

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee

New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee has been fined 30% of his match fee after a spat with West Indian batsmen Kirk Edwards.

"Southee's behavior towards Edwards was unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the game," said the match referee Chris Broad.

Southee was penalised for the unfortunate incident when he was involved in a confrontation with the batsmen during the 31st over of the first innings of this second Test match at Port-of-Spain. Edwards was dismissed by Ish Sodhi for 55.

As a result of him pleading guilty in committing level one breach of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Code of Conduct – Article 2.1.8, that relates to "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game", Southee is about to lose around $2400 as fine, with the Kiwi earning close to $8000 per test match. 

"He disregarded the on-field umpires' previous warnings and continued to engage with Edwards, which required the intervention of the umpires in the middle of the pitch. In doing so, Southee neither showed respect to his opponent nor to the umpires, something which has no place in our sport," Broad added.

The on-field umpires Ian Gould and Rod Tucker and also the TV umpire Richard Illingworth charged the right-arm seamer after he ignored previous warnings.

All level one offences carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player's match fee.