Jimmy Anderson charged

double standard again

Paceman charged with "abusing and pushing"

England seamer James Anderson has been charged by the International Cricket Council over an alleged confrontation with India's Ravindra Jadeja during the drawn first Test at Nottingham's Trent Bridge last week.

The ICC on Tuesday said Anderson was charged with allegedly "abusing and pushing" Jadeja after they left the field for lunch on Thursday's second day when the Indian was batting.

The global governing body's statement added that Anderson faced a Level Three charge under its code of conduct.

Players found guilty of a Level Three offence can be banned for between two to four Tests or four to eight one-day internationals for a first offence.

However, Anderson is unlikely to miss either the second Test at Lord's, which starts on Thursday, or the third of the five-match series in Southampton because any hearing will probably not take place before then.

The ICC said a disciplinary hearing under a judicial commissioner would be held "as soon as reasonably practicable".

The England and Wales Cricket Board pre-empted the ICC's statement with one of their own shortly before the charges against Anderson were confirmed.

ECB chiefs insisted the incident under review was "minor" and that Anderson had their full backing.

"James Anderson categorically denies the accusations made against him and the ECB have pledged their total support for the player should he be charged by ICC," the statement said.

The ECB added they would lay charges of their own against Jadeja were the ICC to take, as they now have, the case against England spearhead seamer Anderson further.

"In the light of this, the ECB has notified the ICC of its intention to lodge code of conduct breaches against Jadeja."

The Indian team's complaint against James Anderson over an alleged altercation with Ravindra Jadeja was brought to the ICC's notice on Friday, July 11, around 24 hours after the incident during the first Investec Test at Trent Bridge.  On Tuesday, Anderson was charged with a Level 3 offence for allegedly "pushing and abusing" Jadeja on the second day of the Test