Pietersen fined over Big Bash mic comment

SYDNEY: Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has been charged with a code of conduct breach in Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash League and fined, Cricket Australia said on Friday.

He was reported for breaching CA’s code of conduct in making a comment detrimental to the interests of cricket while playing for Melbourne Stars against the Perth Scorchers in a BBL semi-final in Perth on January 24.

The offence occurred during the Scorchers’ innings, when batsman Sam Whiteman was given not out following an appeal for caught behind by the Stars, and Pietersen commented on the umpire’s decision while wearing a microphone on-field.

Pietersen was heard to say during the television coverage when Whiteman appeared to edge a ball from paceman Scott Boland: “He says it could have been glove or pad, and I said: ‘well, he’s got big gloves and big pads to reach that’ — massive nick.”

After the match, Whiteman admitted he had hit the ball, while the match umpire Shawn Craig also conceded he had made an error.

Under the code procedure, match referee David Talalla considered the umpires’ report and the proposed sanction was a Aus$5,000 ($3,800) fine.

Pietersen accepted the charge but elected to dispute the sanction. The match referee set a hearing for Thursday and announced the decision was upheld Friday.

Pietersen now has 48 hours to decide whether to appeal and have the matter heard by a CA code of conduct commissioner.