Pooran suspended for four games for changing condition of the ball

West Indies player Nicholas Pooran has been handed four suspension points after admitting breaching level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel during the 3rd ODI match against Afghanistan at Lucknow on Monday.

Pooran was charged with violating Article 2.14 of the code, which relates to "changing the condition of the ball" after video footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail. He will now miss the next four T20I games for the West Indies and will have five demerit points added to his record.

Pooran admitted the offence on Tuesday and accepted the sanction proposed by Chris Broad of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani and third umpire Ahmed Pakteen as well as fourth umpire Izatullah Safi.

Level 3 breaches carry a minimum penalty of four suspension points which translates to five demerit points on a player's record and a ban of two Test matches or four ODI / T20I matches and a maximum penalty of 12 suspension points which equates to 6 demerit points.

Pooran said: "I want to issue a sincere apology to my teammates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow. I recognise that I made an extreme error in judgement and I fully accept the ICC penalty. I want to assure everyone that this is an isolated incident and it will not be repeated. I promise to learn from this and come back stronger and wiser."

Recently, Australia players Steve Smith and David Warner were handed one-year bans while Cameron Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban by Cricket Australia for ball-tampering in a Test against South Africa.

Shakib Al Hasan was handed a one-year ban more recently for not informing the ICC about a bookie approach.