Kenya umpire suspended after assault claim

Hemant Desai, a Kenyan umpire, has been suspended after being reported for assaulting a groundstaff member in Mombasa when he was the reserve official for a one-day international between Kenya and Ireland in February.

Cricket Kenya has suspended Desai from any umpiring duties until November 1 following a disciplinary panel hearing on March 9 chaired by the Cricket Kenya Chairman, Samir Inamdar, and consisting of CEO Tom Sears, ICC code of conduct commissioner Sharad Rao and Kenya cricket umpires and scorers' association representative Subhash Modi.

It was alleged Desai assaulted a member of the groundstaff shortly before the match between Kenya and Ireland at Mombasa Sports Club started. The matter had been formally reported by the ICC match referee, Dev Govindjee, to the ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, who authorised Cricket Kenya to investigate a potential breach the ICC umpires code of conduct.

Desai had denied the allegation that while engaged as an ICC reserve umpire for the fixture he slapped a member of the groundstaff. After taking into account eye witness statements and interviewing witnesses during the hearing the panel unanimously decided that he was in breach of clause 1.6 which states "Umpires shall not engage in any conduct which is prejudicial to the game of cricket".