Shannon Gabriel banned for four ODIs over ‘homophobic comment’

He will miss four One Day Internationals

West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel has been banned for four One Day Internationals after making a 'homophobic comment' in a sledge. The incident occurred during Day 4 of the third Test match between England and the West Indies in St Lucia. England captain Joe Root, who was batting at the time, was heard telling Gabriel not "to use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being gay." https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1095246700602712064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1095246700602712064&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Fjoe-root-responds-gay-comment-219501 Gabriel has since accepted a charge from the International Cricket Council (ICC), and will miss the first four matches of the upcoming ODI series. Gabriel has been fined 75% of his match fee for the third Test in St Lucia and handed three demerit points, taking his total to eight, which is enough to be banned for four ODIs or one Test. The exact nature of Gabriel's comment which prompted a response from Root is not known but it was found to be in breach of Article 2.13 of the ICC's code of conduct. The article states: "Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to any incident occurring in an international match or any player...or a team participating in an international match, whether or not the match official is involved...or which may be considered detrimental to the game of cricket in general." The code notes that when assessing the seriousness of the breach "the context within which the criticism and/or comment has been made must be taken into account".