The International Cricket Council has accused the West Indies players of bringing the recent World Twenty20 into disrepute following comments made by the captain, Darren Sammy, and the batsman Marlon Samuels in the aftermath of their victory against England in the final three weeks ago.
Sammy used the presentation ceremony to hit out at the West Indies Cricket Board for “disrespecting” the team – a reference to a pay dispute prior to the tournament – while Samuels sarcastically dedicated his award for man of the match to the Australian commentator Shane Warne and was fined 30% of his match fee for verbally abusing the England all-rounder Ben Stokes.
In a press release sent out on Monday by the International Cricket Council, which congratulated the Indian board for its hosting of the tournament despite issues over ticketing and venues, the governing body chose not to name either player but did use a picture of Samuels on its official website.
The statement, which detailed outcomes from four days of meetings by the ICC board and various committees in Dubai, read: “The board considered the behaviour of some of the West Indies players in the immediate aftermath of the final, and unanimously agreed that certain comments and actions were inappropriate, disrespectful and brought the event into disrepute.
“The board acknowledged an apology by the West Indies cricket board but was disappointed to note that such behaviour had detracted from the success of what was otherwise a magnificent tournament and final.”
Elsewhere the ICC reiterated plans agreed in February to make the chairmanship of the governing body independent as it looks to undo the controversial constitutional changes of 2014 that saw India, England and Australia take control and allocate themselves 52% of revenues from global events.
Shashank Manohar is expected to stand for the position, which will have a two-year term, but would need to step down as chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India if elected. An independently audited secret ballot is set to take place at the end of May, with potential candidates requiring the support of at least two Full Member ICC directors in order to stand.
The ICC also stated that there is a consensus among members that bilateral international cricket is in need of greater context but stopped short of outlining how this could be achieved, with further discussions to be held over the possibility of revamping the Test championship.
In addition to this it was announced that both Afghanistan and Ireland will be awarded $500,000 to aid in the scheduling of bilateral series, with the two associate nations currently struggling to climb the official one-day rankings that help determine qualification for the 2019 World Cup in England due to a lack of fixtures.
