James Pattinson to miss first Test against Pak after violating CA's Code of Conduct
Melbourne: Australian pacer James Pattinson will miss the upcoming first Test against Pakistan as he was found guilty of violating Cricket Australia's (CA) Code of Conduct, the country's cricketing body confirmed on Sunday.
Pattinson was found guilty of breaching Article 2.1.3 of CA's Code of Conduct for personal abuse of a player while fielding during Victoria's Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.
He has admitted to the breach, which had been reported by on-field umpires John Ward and Shawn Craig to match referee David Talalla.
"I made a mistake in the heat of the moment. Straight away I realised I was in the wrong, and I apologised immediately, both to the opponent and to the umpires. I have done the wrong thing and accept the penalty. I am gutted to miss a Test match, but the standards are there for a reason and the fault is mine," Pattinson said in an official statement.
Pattinson had previously been found guilty of two-level one Code of Conduct breaches over the past year for which he received a reprimand (Article 2.1.2, March 14, Sheffield Shield, versus New South Wales) and a 100 per cent match fee fine (Article 2.1.4, March 21, Sheffield Shield, versus South Australia).
He has now accumulated three Code of Conduct breaches within an 18 month period and has received two suspension points and as a result, he will be missing the first Test against Pakistan.
CA has decided to not call any replacement for the upcoming match against Pakistan.
"We have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and the action taken in this matter demonstrates that. On this occasion, James acknowledges he fell short of that expectation," Sean Carroll, Cricket Australia's Head of Integrity and Security said.
Australia squad for Test Series against Pakistan - Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head (vc), Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.
Australia and Pakistan are slated to play two Tests against each other and the second match of the series would be a day-night Test at Adelaide.
The first match of the series will be played in Brisbane from November 21-25.
