• England v India, 3rd Test

Anderson and Jadeja found not guilty over altercation

ESPNcricinfo staff
August 1, 2014
Both James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja were both found not guilty of breaching the ICC's Code of Conduct © PA Photos
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James Anderson and Ravindra Jadeja have been found not guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during their alleged altercation at Trent Bridge by judicial commissioner Gordon Lewis at the hearing in Southampton on Friday.

After a day of hearing evidence and submissions from both sides it was said that the verdict could take up to 48 hours to be delivered but in the end commissioner Lewis, who had joined via Skype from Australia, needed a matter of minutes to come to his decision.

It means that Anderson will now be available for the final two Tests of the series, including his home match at Old Trafford which starts on Thursday. If Anderson had been guilty he would have faced a ban of at least two Tests.

Neither team is allowed to appeal the verdict with only the ICC chief executive able to lodge a challenge.

"The Judicial Commissioner reached his decisions following a six-hour hearing, which took place via videoconference," the ICC said. "Witnesses, including some Indian and English players, provided evidence and were cross-examined by the respective legal counsels."

Anderson was facing a Level 3 charge for allegedly abusing and pushing Jadeja at the start of the lunch break on the second day of the first Test at Trent Bridge. The charge had been laid by India's team manager Sunil Dev which was then countered by a Level 2 charged laid by England manager Phil Neale against Jadeja.

Jadeja was alleged to have turned towards Anderson in a threatening manner and had originally been found guilty by match referee David Boon at a previous hearing and fined 50% of his match fee. India, after applying legal pressure, were allowed to lodge an appeal, which was heard today, and Jadeja was also found not guilty.

The ECB and Anderson were represented in the hearings by Nick De Marco while Adam Lewis QC represented Jadeja. The hearings were also attended by the two team managers, the ECB's managing director Paul Downton, the BCCI's Sundar Raman and MV Sridhar, the ICC's General Manager - Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and the ICC's Ethics and Regulatory lawyer, Sally Clark.

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