Runako Morton escapes with a reprimand

Runako Morton, the former West Indian middle order batsman, has escaped with only a reprimand following a charge of stabbing his cousin. Morton admitted that he had stabbed his cousin in the chest in January this year following a family dispute. He appeared before a court in Charlestown, a small town in the island of Nevis, where the magistrate decided to let him off with only a reprimand.

It isn't the first time that the 25-year-old Morton has had a tiff with the authorities. In 2001 he was expelled from the West Indian Academy for a series of regulation breaches. Then, in the Champions Trophy in September 2002, he withdrew from the West Indian squad citing the death of his grandmother. It later turned out that one of his grandmothers had been dead for 16 years, and the other was still alive.

His various disciplinary problems have meant that Morton has played just two one-day internationals, and 34 first-class matches - for Leeward Islands - in six years.