England bowler Liam Plunkett has been cleared of wrongdoing, after suggestions on social media that he had unlawfully altered the condition of the ball during Saturday’s ODI at the Ageas Bowl.
During the game, a video began circulating on Twitter of Plunkett rubbing his fingers across the rough side of the ball, with fans speculating he was attempting to damage it further.
However, a tweet put out by the ICC account on Sunday clarified matters. It read: “The ICC has confirmed that the match officials are comfortable there was no attempt by Liam Plunkett to change the condition of the ball or any evidence of this on the over-by-over examinations of the ball throughout Saturday’s ODI clash in Southampton.”
— Mudasir Hussain Toorri (@mudasirtoori72) May 12, 2019
In a display of good grace, Plunkett himself is understood to have raised the issue with match officials, after becoming aware of the allegations and video.
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England won the nail-biter in question by just 12 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series with three matches still to play.
