Ashes 2023: Moeen Ali found guilty of breaching ‘Code of Conduct’

Moeen Ali, an all-rounder for England, was found guilty of violating the Code of Conduct during a match in the ongoing Ashes series versus Australia at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, which marked his first Test appearance in two years. Ali recently came out of retirement and was included in the team in the place of injured Jack Leach.

For breaching the code of conduct, the cricket governing council of the World has spanked a fine amounting to 25 percent of his match fees. Article 2.20 of the Code of Conduct for Players as well as Player Support Personnel, which largely deals with acting in a manner that is against the spirit of the game, was determined to have been broken by Moeen Ali.

For violating Level 1 of the Code of Conduct, the England star has also been penalized with one demerit point, which has been added to his disciplinary record. This was the first violation for the England all-rounder in the previous 24 months. The incident took place in the 89^th over of the match when Australia was batting on Day 2 and Ali was seen applying a drying agent on his hand which he uses for bowling at the time when he was fielding on the boundary line.

The star England all-rounder indeed accepted the offence proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Elite Panel of Match Referees and hence there was no formal hearing. The Match Referee was also satisfied that the drying agent was only applied on his finger and not used an artificial substance to the ball, thereby not changing the condition of the ball.

The first day of the Ashes Test saw fans being treated to some mouth-watering contest between bat and ball which was pretty much what was expected out of this largely anticipated opening Test match. Both the teams have been in some good forms lately and have certainly replicated that form coming into this game.