Moeen Ali fined but avoids ball-tampering charge after spraying drying cream on hands

Moeen was found to have breached Article 2.20 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, relating to conduct contrary to the spirit of the game. He has had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record for a Level One offence.

During the 89th over of play during Australia’s first innings, Moeen was seen crouching on the boundary line and using a spray on the fingers of his right hand. The England all-rounder had bowled 29 overs during that day’s play, and was suffering with abrasions on his spinning fingers. He had taken two crucial wickets before the incident, Travis Head caught at mid-wicket and Cameron Green bowled by a peach.

Moeen admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee, Andy Pycroft, meaning there was no need for a formal hearing. Pycroft was satisfied the cream had only been applied to the finger in order to dry his hands, rather than as an artificial substance to change the condition of the ball. Had Moeen been in breach of the more serious charge of altering the condition of the ball, he could have faced a more serious penalty.

The maximum penalty that can be imposed for a Level One offence such as Moeen’s, is a 50 percent fine of a player’s match fee along with two demerit points.

Moeen came back onto bowl for England straight away on the morning of day three, but could only manage four overs, in which he was hit for 27 runs, before leaving the field.

Moeen Ali has been fined 25% of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against Australia. pic.twitter.com/ZdNg4gx9mG

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 18, 2023

There was a similar incident in the early stages of Australia’s last Test series, against India in India. On that occasion, Ravindra Jadeja was seen rubbing a substance into his spinning finger and was fined by the match referee.