England and New Zealand were docked three points (and 15 per cent match fees) apiece for poor over rates in the recently concluded Test match at Christchurch. England were already out of the race for a berth in the WTC 2023-25 final, but the penalties affected New Zealand’s chances.

Stokes and New Zealand captain Tom Latham had both pleaded guilty, and had accepted the sanction, but Stokes expressed his displeasure not too long afterwards in an Instagram story. “Good on you ICC,” ran the story, followed by three ‘shrug’ emojis and the words “[we] finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.”

Whether teams should be penalised for over rates for Test matches played to a finish is a subject open to debate. However, Stokes’s story may result in him being penalised.

Why can Stokes be sanctioned?

Code 2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct (dated June 16, 2023), reads: “Public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match, irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made.

“Note: Without limitation, Players and Player Support Personnel will breach Article 2.7 if they publicly criticise the Match Officials or denigrate a Player or team against which they have played in relation to incidents which occurred in an International Match. When assessing the seriousness of the breach, without limitation, the context within which the comments have been made and the gravity of the offending comments must be taken into account.

“For the avoidance of doubt, any posting by a Player or Player Support Personnel of comments on a social media platform (including, without limitation, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn) shall be deemed to be ‘public’ for the purposes of this offence. Consequently, a Player or Player Support Personnel may breach Article 2.7 where they criticise or make an inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an International Match or any Player, Player Support Personnel, Match Official or team participating in any International Match in any posting they make on a social media platform.”

On-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Rod Tucker, third umpire Adrian Holdstock, and fourth official Kim Cotton found both teams guilty of poor over rates, while match referee David Boon imposed the penalty. By criticising the penalty, Stokes might have violated the Code.

Is there a precedent?

In fact, Stokes’ story is not too different from Shubman Gill’s 2023 posts on Twitter (now X) and Instagram. Gill was given out caught by Cameron Green, but some felt that there was not enough evidence to rule Gill out.

Gill tweeted magnifying glass emojis along and facepalm emoji, and posted a cohort of applause emojis on Instagram, and was found guilty of violating Article 2.7. Back then, the non-exhaustive list of social media platforms in the Code did not include Instagram – but it did include Twitter.

It may be argued that Gill’s post came during the same Test match where the incident took place, but the Code mentions that a cricketer can be penalised “irrespective of when such criticism or inappropriate comment is made”.

However, the same Code adds that “when assessing the seriousness of the breach, without limitation, the context within which the comments have been made and the gravity of the offending comments must be taken into account”. Subjective, then.

How serious can the penalty be?

A violation of Code 2.7 is a Level 1 or 2 offence as per the ICC Code of Conduct. A Level 1 offence can result in a penalty of up to 50 per cent match fee and two demerit points. For Level 2, the penalties can be up to four demerit points, 100 per cent match fee, and two suspension points.

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