Smith, Hall and Youhana face ICC Code of Conduct charges

South Africa captain Graeme Smith, all-rounder Andrew Hall and Pakistan batsmen Yousuf Youhana will face ICC Match Referee Clive Lloyd after the International Cricket Council charged all three players following a review of footage taken from the second One Day International in Lahore last Sunday.

ICC Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed, reviewed television replays of an incident in the match yesterday before laying the charges.

Graeme Smith has been charged with a Level 2 offence (CC 2.9) under the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to the use of obscene or offensive language. A Level 2 offence carries a penalty of a fine between 50 and 100 per cent of the player's match fee and/or a one Test Match or 2 ODI Match ban.

Andrew Hall is facing two charges. The first charge is a Level 2 offence for inappropriate and deliberate physical contact (CC 2.5). The second charge is a Level 3 offence for conduct that brings the game into disrepute (C2). A Level 3 offence carries a penalty of a ban of between two and four Test Matches or four and eight ODI Matches.

Yousuf Youhana has been charged with a Level 1 offence of bringing the game into disrepute (C2). The penalty for a Level 1 offence is an official reprimand and/or a fine up to 50 per cent of the player's match fee.

An alleged breach of the ICC Code of Conduct can be reported by the umpires, the team managers, the Chief Executive Officers of the participating boards or the ICC Chief Executive.

Under the ICC's Code of Conduct, the ICC Chief Executive Officer has five days from the close of play on the day an incident took place within which to lay a charge against a player or official.

This period was increased from just 24 hours in June this year following an incident in the West Indies between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Glenn McGrath that was not reported by the match officials and was not brought to the ICC's attention until after this time had expired.

The hearing will be conducted by ICC Match Referee Clive Lloyd at a time and venue to be confirmed. The outcome of the hearing will be announced by ICC media release.

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