Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head found guilty of breaching ICC code over Adelaide spat | Australia cricket team

Australian batter Travis Head and Indian bowler Mohammed Siraj have been found guilty of breaching the International Cricket Council (ICC) code of conduct for their verbal spat in the second Test in Adelaide.

Siraj was fined 20% of his match fee after being found to have breached article 2.5 of the code, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon dismissal”.

In addition, one demerit point was added to Siraj’s disciplinary record, the ICC said in a statement.

Head was reprimanded after he was was found to have breached article 2.13 of the code, which relates to the “abuse of a player, player support personnel, umpire or match referee”.

One demerit point has been added to Head’s disciplinary record.

The ICC announcement came after Head admitted swearing at Siraj on Saturday following the Australian’s match-winning 140. Siraj gave the South Australian a send-off after bowling Head, and the hometown hero responded with some choice words.

The 30-year-old Indian became public enemy No 1 at the Adelaide Oval following the clash, with the crowd booing him for the rest of the Test.

Siraj had already drawn the ire of Australia’s fans on Friday night when he aggressively threw the ball back at Marnus Labuschagne when the No 3 had pulled away from a delivery when a man holding a tower of beer cups had walked into his eye line.

However, Australia’s paceman Josh Hazlewood called Siraj a “good character” after playing with him in the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“I really enjoyed my time at RCB with him,” Hazlewood said, who missed the Test with a side strain. “He’s probably the leader of the attack there, to a degree. He’s another one who’s a bit like Virat [Kohli], very passionate, goes with the flow of the game, gets the crowd up.

“[He has] bowled serious spells in the IPL in the last few years. He’s just a good character and it’s good to see sometimes.”

Before play on Sunday when Australia secured a 10-wicket win to square the series at 1-1, Siraj accused Head of lying about what happened on the field.

“What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me,” Siraj told Indian broadcaster Star Sports in comments translated from Hindi. “It’s there for everyone to see that that’s not what he said to me.

“I respect everybody because cricket is a gentleman’s game, but what he did wasn’t right. I didn’t like it at all.”

While Siraj batted on Sunday, the Indian had a conversation with Head who was fielding at short-leg. It appears the confrontation may have escalated due to some of the things said being lost in translation.

“It was fine. He said: ‘Why did you swear?’ I sort of said, ‘Look, I didn’t at first … [but] I definitely swore at you the second time round’,” Head told ABC radio after Australia’s win.

“[I’m] sweet with it. He came out and just said (it was) a little bit of misunderstanding.”