Birmingham, Jun 12: West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was fined 20 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council on Monday for violating its code of conduct during the drawn third test against England at Edgabston.
After making only his second test hundred on day four, Ramdin produced a piece of paper from his pocket and displayed a message that read: "Yeah Viv talk nah."
Ramdin pleaded guilty to a charge of acting "contrary to the spirit of the game" and accepted the punishment Monday.
Ramdin said on Sunday that he'd had the paper in his pocket since Saturday morning and that it was a response to criticism from former West Indies great Viv Richards, after he'd made just seven runs in two innings in the second test at Trent Bridge.
"Sir Viv had something in the press and I think I got a bit emotional and it came out the way it did," Ramdin said. "Having said that he's a legend of the Caribbean and if I see him I'll still call him out."
Richards responded on BBC radio.
"If you give someone enough chances eventually he will get the job done," he said. "Let's not forget this hundred has been in a losing series. If you're losing a football match 5-0 and you score a goal in the 90th minute, you wouldn't be jumping for joy. I set my standards a little higher than that."
Match referee Roshan Mahanama said the fine was to deter other players.
"It is important that we do not allow a precedent to be set with such a premeditated celebration by Mr Ramdin," Mahanama said. "We all understand the importance of celebrating a milestone, however, one should not use that time as an opportunity to hit out at one's critic or send messages to the world."
"I hope Mr Ramdin has learnt his lesson from this incident and that we will not see such behavior by him or any player in the future when celebrating an achievement within a game of international cricket."
Former West Indies bowler Michael Holding was also critical.
"If I was the manager of the team I would be having a word with that player and he would be getting a fine," he told Sky Sports. "I am not saying this because Viv was my former captain, that is simply unbecoming behavior from a player."
However, Ramdin's captain Darren Sammy was unconcerned by the incident.
"I was wondering what his celebration was going to be," Sammy said. "He's a big fan of Didier Drogba so I thought he was probably going to slide."
