Stern punishment if Anderson is guilty - Boycott

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott has said James Anderson should be given a "stern punishment" if he is found guilty of having abused and pushed Ravindra Jadeja on the second day of the first Investec Test at Trent Bridge.

"If anybody's found guilty, and if I had a say in it, I believe he should be punished and punished harshly, that will stop it," Boycott told ESPNcricinfo. "I think everybody [found guilty] deserves a stern punishment. I didn't see any pushing and I could have easily missed it. If he's found guilty of that, then there's no excuse."

The alleged incident took place when the players left the field for lunch on the second day. There was reportedly a verbal altercation between Anderson and Jadeja that continued as they walked towards the dressing room. Jadeja was unbeaten on 24, and MS Dhoni on 81, and Anderson had bowled the last over before lunch. Anderson was charged under Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct after India team manager Sunil Dev lodged the complaint.

"What is going on in cricket, verbals between players, and particularly bowlers trying to rile batsmen by flagging them off, I don't like it," Boycott said. "I've never agreed with it, I don't think there's a place for it in cricket. The modern player, in a lot of countries, accepts it as a norm as if they are growing up with it and everybody does it and everybody should do it. They believe it is not hurting cricket. Well, I believe it is. Jimmy [Anderson] is known to be one that talks to players. Now what he actually says I don't know, I'm not near enough to hear it and I certainly can't lip-read. But he is known to do a lot of talking. I don't agree with it.

"I've been against some of the great fast bowlers in the world, the great West Indians, they didn't have to flag you off and make crude remarks. They just tried to bowl you out, they tried to knock you out sometimes but that's part of the game. They never got involved - [Denniss] Lillee, [Jeff] Thomson. Thomson used to swear under his breath but he never swore at the batsman, he just swore at himself and made expletives when he got a thick edge and it went between slip and gully for four. He'd be annoyed and irritated but he wouldn't swear at the batsman. Fred Trueman used to swear and make funny remarks and make you laugh."

Anderson scored a fighting 81 in England's only innings and took four wickets in the match, including Jadeja's in the second innings. He faces a ban of at least two Tests if he is found guilty because the minimum sanction for a Level 3 violation is four suspension points and two points equates to missing one Test. He faces a hearing that will take place within 14 days.