Windies vs England | Shannon Gabriel banned for four ODIs after homophobic slur

Windies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has been suspended for four ODIs by the ICC following an incident involving England captain Joe Root during the third Test in St Lucia. The sanction relates to an exchange between the fast-bowler and Root on the third day which ended with the visiting batsman saying: "Don't use it as an insult. There is nothing wrong with being gay.”

On-field umpires Rod Tucker, Kumar Dharmasena and third umpire Chris Gaffaney levelled the charges, following which Gabriel accepted the sanction. Gabriel already had five demerit points against his name for two previous incidents involving physical contact with the opponents. 

He had received three demerit points during the Jamaica Test against Pakistan in April 2017 for barging on to Sarfraz Ahmed and a further two demerit points in the Chittagong Test against Bangladesh last November for a similar incident involving Imrul Kayes. As a result of the latter incident, he was suspended for the next Test in Mirpur, having reached the tally of four demerit points.

Gabriel also received a fine of 75% of his match fee and three demerit points for the Level 2 offence which took him directly to eight demerit points within a 24-month period. This automatically equates to a ban from either two Tests or four ODIs or T20s.

The 30-year-old from Trinidad was set for a recall to West Indies one-day team, but will now miss the first four matches of the upcoming ODI series with England which begins next week in Barbados.