November 14 Thursday 2002
WI players punished for breaching code of conduct

ST. JOHNS, Antigua: Three players who faced the West Indies Cricket Board's disciplinary committee last month were found guilty of breaching the group's code of conduct, officials said.

Barbados left-arm spin bowler Sulieman Benn and fast bowler Tino Best, as well as Nevis and Leeward Islands all-rounder Runako Morton, were fined $US291, or 10 percent of their tour fees, the cricket board said Tuesday.

The fines arose from their conduct during the West Indies A team's visit to Ireland, Britain and Canada in the summer. The fines must be paid to the West Indies Cricket Board by next week.

Morton was also found guilty of engineering an early departure from the senior West Indies team tour to the International Cricket Council Champions Trophy series in Sri Lanka last September under false pretenses.

Morton claimed his grandmother had died and had to return for the funeral, but the cricket board later discovered she had died several years earlier. Morton has been suspended for one year from participating in all matches involving the West Indies Cricket Board. The cricket board's directors accepted the disciplinary committee's rulings on Sunday.