Cricketers should be automatically suspended for intentional contact

Pakistan quick Wahab Riaz is no stranger to the odd verbal altercation as we witnessed in his stoush with Shane Watson in last year’s cricket World Cup.

While that was on the international scene, it seems Riaz gets fired up even when it comes to his own Pakistan teammates in domestic tournaments.

The fast bowler had just dismissed Ahmed Shehzad in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) when Shehzad came down the pitch, said something, motioned with his bat, before giving Riaz a nudge.

The incident incensed Riaz who shoved the batsman. The umpires then came in to put an end to any more physicals or verbals.

Both players were fined for the altercation (30 per cent of his match fee for Shehzad and 40 for Riaz), but there was no suspension, which I find remarkable.

Fines are nothing for professional cricketers, especially those in lucrative Twenty20 leagues.

Once it gets to the stage when there’s any sort of physical confrontation there should be severe penalties in place.

The ICC has a Code of Conduct for international matches which the PSL follows, and any physical assault of another player or official is considered a level four offence.

The problem is that the ICC’s code is subjective and it’s up to the match referee to decide if an incident warrants a fine or suspension.

Why not make it ANY intentional contact is a minimum two game suspension?

Unlike ice hockey fights, for example, only two of the participants in cricket (the batsmen) are wearing padding.

If a batsman gets angry and loses control the fielding team is in danger, standing there without any way to protect themselves.

Most cricket players and fans would agree that sledging is okay as long as it doesn’t get personal or progress to a physical confrontation like what was witnessed in the PSL or this Bermudan cricket match.

It’s actually remarkable that in cricket’s history there hasn’t been more cases of batsmen snapping and throwing a bat at the opposition.

Unless there’s a no tolerance approach in these cases the players will keep pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable.