Shane Warne penalized for misconduct

May 29: The bowling wizard from Australia Shane Keith Warne is again entrapped in the thick of controversies. He was given six penalty points, on Tuesday, by the England and Wales Cricket Board after disputing an umpire's decision in a county cricket game.

“He was found guilty of two charges, first of showing serious dissent and second of using language or gesture which was obscene or of a serious insulting nature," the ECB said in a statement.

The ace leg-spinner was batting for Hampshire against Kent on May 24, when he initially refused to walk after being given out leg-before-wicket for 19 runs and latter showed unacceptable gestures.

Warne, who retired from Test cricket in January, made it clear to Robinson that he was unhappy with the LBW decision in the match that ended as a draw, against Kent at Canterbury. He uttered an ‘audible obscenity’ as he approached the pavilion.

Later Warne was declared by umpires Tim Robinson and Barrie Leadbeater as being responsible for two separate Level 2 breaches of the ECB's discipline code. The report included Warne’s using the language or gesture that is obscene or of a serious insulting nature to umpire.

As per rules any player on getting nine or more points within a span of two years is subjected to automatic suspension from the county cricket. Now when Warne has already landed in trouble, being given six points for his misconduct, he needs to stay away from controversies in order to keep playing in county cricket.

He is still considered to be the all time best in the trade of leg spinners. Not surprisingly he holds the world record for highest number of test scalps with 708 wickets to his name. He has been a key since the beginning of Australian dream run of victories, who can forget his magic spell in the 99 world cup semi final against South Africa. Warne was more efficient at test match level and a lethal weapon Australia was having especially in their high rated Ashes clashes against England.

However Warne hardly remained away from controversies in his international career. He was also known for his arrogance and misconducts both on and off the field. He has been dubbed as the ‘bad boy of cricket’ for his many scandals and issues like facing a ban of 12-months for a doping violation and accepting money from an Indian gambler to share pitch and weather details of the matches.