Benn faces one-Test suspension

Sulieman Benn and Brad Haddin exchange stares and words © Getty Images



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Players/Officials: Sulieman Benn | Brad Haddin
Matches: Australia v West Indies at Perth
Series/Tournaments: West Indies tour of Australia
Teams: Australia | West Indies

Sulieman Benn faces a potential suspension after being charged with a Level 2 ICC Code of Conduct offence for bringing the game into disrepute following an incident with Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson at the WACA. Johnson and Haddin have also been hit with charges but at the lower Level 1, which carries a maximum penalty of a fine of 50% of the player's match fee.

If found guilty, Benn's penalty could be a one-Test suspension, however the more likely result would be a fine of 50 to 100% of his match fee. The three men were cited by the match referee Chris Broad after the second day's play, during which an eventful 118th over of Australia's innings ended with a physical clash between Benn and Johnson.

The over began with an accidental run-in between the bowler Benn, who was moving across to field a drive, and the non-striker Johnson, who was taking off for a single. The contact seemed incidental, with neither man at fault, but Haddin appeared to inflame the situation after completing the run, when he pointed his bat at Benn.

The pair exchanged words and the sparks flew again two balls later, when Haddin drove the final ball of the over back to Benn, who shaped to throw at the striker's end even though Haddin was not taking off for a run. Haddin and Johnson had a mid-pitch meeting at the end of the over and Benn continued his remonstration, moving close to the batsmen and pointing at Haddin across the shoulder of Johnson.

There appeared to be some incidental contact between Johnson and Benn when Johnson moved to position himself between his partner and the bowler. Things became even uglier when Johnson pushed Benn away, following the initial contact. After stumps the West Indies captain Chris Gayle said he felt Benn had not initiated the physical clash.

"Benn wasn't involved in that," Gayle said. "If you watch the telly, you see who made physical contact. But like I said we'll be discussing it after with the match referee."

Gayle said there wasn't much in the incident and he quickly moved to speak to his bowler, and the tension died down. "As a captain basically you just try to get on with the game," he said. "No-one wants to bring the game into disrepute so that was the only thing, just try to get on with it."

Benn's competitive nature was on display at the Adelaide Oval last week when he regularly followed through to move into the eyeline of the batsmen, taking the sort of aggressive approach not often seen in spin bowlers. He also has a lighter side and is known for singing at every opportunity and Australia's batsman Marcus North said while Benn was "an unusual guy", it was natural to expect that the match would be played in a competitive spirit.

"There's a contest out there and both teams play it hard and hopefully don't cross the line," North said. "Both teams have played in pretty good spirit this series."