Statement by International Cricket Council match referee Clive Lloyd

At the conclusion of a hearing conducted by International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Clive Lloyd on Saturday (18 January), he issued this statement:

"I have today found Australia's Darren Lehmann guilty of a breach of provision 3.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct.

"The penalty for a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct is a ban of between two and four Test matches or between four and eight one-day internationals. In this instance I have decided that a ban of five one-day internationals is the appropriate punishment.

"The ban will take effect from tomorrow (Sunday 19 January) subject to an appeal from Mr Lehmann which must be lodged in writing to the ICC Legal Counsel within 24 hours.

"Mr Lehmann has apologised for his remarks.

"In my decision I took into consideration Darren's impeccable record and other matters put to me about his standing and reputation in cricket.

"Darren's comment could be interpreted as deeply offensive and this must be eradicated from all sport, not just cricket."