Wahab Riaz will face no disciplinary action from the ICC after the England batsman Joe Root appeared to accuse the Pakistan fast bowler of treading on the ball during the second Test.
Riaz was shown kicking the ball during the evening session of the fourth day by the TV cameras with Root, who was batting at the time, making a gesture to suggest he had, in fact, stamped on it.
Scuffing the ball can enhance reverse swing, but no footage has emerged to suggest the bowler had done so deliberately. As such, the ICC match referee Andy Pycroft has not included it in his match report and no further action will be taken.
The England head coach, Trevor Bayliss, who immediately went to see Pycroft after the incident, is happy that the umpires found no wrongdoing but believes the best way to avoid suspicion is to avoid contact with the boot altogether.
“The match referee assured me that the umpires out on the field had looked at the ball and there was no damage to it. That was the end of it,” said Bayliss. “You’re probably best off keeping your feet out of it and then there’s no issue at all. The main thing was there was no damage to the ball, and let’s get on with it. Both games have been played in a pretty good spirit so far and I think that will continue.”
Root has moved to No1 in the world Test batting rankings after scores of 88 and 71 in the Dubai Test, with the Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah up to second in the bowling charts after match figures of eight for 180.
Australia’s former leg-spinner Shane Warne, visiting Dubai for a promotional trip before playing three exhibition matches in the US next month, has lauded Yasir’s performance and said he would like to work with him in the nets before Sunday’s third Test in Sharjah. “I might not be that welcome down in the England camp, so I might have to try the Pakistan camp to have a bowl,” Warne told the UAE newspaper The National. “I think Yasir is a wonderful bowler. From what I have seen, he has got all the toys. To me, he just needs to be a little more patient and toil away.”
