James Pattinson has been found guilty of a level two breach of Article 2.13 of Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct for personal abuse of a player while fielding during Victoria’s Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.
Pattinson admitted to the breach, which had been reported by umpires John Ward and Shawn Craig to match referee David Talalla. Pattinson apologised immediately and unreservedly to the opponent and the umpires and did not contest the charge.
Pattinson had previously been found guilty of two level one Code of Conduct breaches over the past year for which he received a reprimand (Article 2.1.2, March 14, Sheffield Shield, versus New South Wales) and a 100% match fee fine (Article 2.1.4, March 21, Sheffield Shield, versus South Australia).
Having accumulated three Code of Conduct breaches within an 18 month period, Pattinson has received two suspension points and will subsequently miss the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba.
Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity and Security, said the decision to hand Pattinson two suspension points was the appropriate course of action.
“We have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and the action taken in this matter demonstrates that,” Carroll said. “On this occasion, James acknowledges he fell short of that expectation.”
Pattinson said he accepted the breach and apologised unreservedly.
“I made a mistake in the heat of the moment,” Pattinson said. “Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires.
“I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I’m gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine.”
No replacement will be called into the Test squad ahead of the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba.
