In what is a huge relief for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to take no action against the board over the controversy on Ben Stokes‘ retirement video. The ECB was accused of violating the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) rules after uploading a clip of the former England skipper announcing his retirement to his teammates in the dressing room mid-way through the ENG vs NZ 3rd Test. Two days after Stokes fired a savage two-word response to the charges, reports have claimed that the ICC won’t pursue further action.
ECB escapes ICC action over Ben Stokes video
As per Press Association (PA), the matter between the ICC and the ECB has been resolved. Earlier, reports claimed that the global body had penned a letter to the board over Stokes’ retirement video being aired on broadcast and on social media during the game to which the ECB was yet to respond. The PMOA rules state that any footage recorded in the dressing room shouldn’t contain audio or be released before the end of the ongoing match.
The ECB released a video of Stokes informing his teammates about his decision at the start of the day’s play at Trent Bridge. However, in doing so, the ECB breached the PMOA rules, which state that any footage recorded in the dressing room shouldn’t contain audio or be released before the end of the ongoing match.
At 3:25 PM local time on June 28, the penultimate day of the Nottingham Test between England and New Zealand, Stokes announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. The retirement was orchestrated by Stokes and his long-term agent Neil Fairbrother. The all-rounder’s abrupt decision to retire comes after his involvement in multiple controversies over the last six months.
Article 2.2.11 of the PMOA rules states that teams should ‘ensure that there are no fixed or temporary video cameras or other recording equipment set up within any dressing room used by the teams for the purposes of broadcasting video or audio footage.’
