West Indies bowler Gabriel suspended after Root exchange

LONDON: West Indies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was Wednesday suspended for four one-day internationals after breaching the International Cricket Council's code of conduct over comments made to England's Joe Root.

Gabriel has been fined 75 percent of his match fee for the incident during the third Test in St Lucia and handed three demerit points, taking his total to eight within a 24-month period.

The nature of the paceman's words is not known but England captain Root was picked up on stump microphones telling Gabriel: "Don't use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being gay."

A statement from the ICC said: "During the third day of the St Lucia Test against England on Monday, Gabriel was found guilty of breaching article 2.13 of the ICC code of conduct... which relates to "personal abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee during an international match", following an incident with Root.

"Gabriel admitted the offence after the end of the match on Tuesday and accepted the sanction."

West Indies won the Test series against England 2-1.

Root received praise for his response to Gabriel, made in the process of compiling a century, with fellow sportsmen, politicians and LGBT equality charity Stonewall all applauding his stance.

Gabriel, 30, already had five demerit points against his name for two earlier incidents. With the addition of the latest three demerit points, he has reached the threshold of eight demerit points, converted into four suspension points.

Four suspension points equate to a ban from two Tests or four ODIs/Twenty20 internationals, whichever come first for the player.

Gabriel was in November suspended from a Test in Bangladesh when he reached the threshold of four demerit points.

The five-match one-day series starts in Barbados on February 20.