Match referee takes action against Aaron Finch for abusing Umpire during AUS vs ENG T20I

Australian Captain, Aaron Finch, was involved in an unpleasant incident during the 1st AUS vs ENG T20 which led to him receiving an official reprimand. Finch was heard using foul language against the on-field umpire while Australia was fielding in the first innings.

The incident happened in the ninth over of the England innings when Cameron Green was bowling to Jos Buttler. Coming in to bowl the third ball of the over, the bowler bowled a short-pitched delivery to which Buttler attempted an Upper Cut. The batter however couldn’t connect, and the ball went toward the wicket-keeper Matthew Wade who caught the ball by diving forward.

As soon as Wade caught the ball, he went up for a caught-behind appeal but the umpires didn’t seem interested. Given the situation of the match, where the England batters were single-handedly dominating with a 95-run first-wicket stand in 8.2 overs, the Australian Captain had to think of a review. The only confirmation Finch needed was whether the ball was carried to the keeper, to confirm which he went on to ask from the on-field umpire.

However, by the time the umpire gave him an answer, the 15-seconds timer to take the call for review was already up. This left Aaron Finch raging with frustration as he couldn’t take the review anymore. In the heat of the moment, Finch went on to use abusive language for the umpire which the stump mic caught clearly.

Aaron Finch caught abusing the on-field umpire on the stump mic

“Could have been nice to know inside 15 f***ing seconds,” Finch yelled at the umpire while returning back to his fielding position.

"It would have been f***ing nice to know in time."

Aaron Finch swearing at the umpire against England, after asking whether a ball had carried to Matthew Wade as he considered a review. Finch has been given an official reprimand by the match referee, but avoided a fine. pic.twitter.com/Pm3AR1VmaR

— Jack Snape (@jacksongs) October 10, 2022

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With this incident, Finch was found to have violated Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which deals with the “use of an audible obscenity during an International Match.” The ICC hence officially reprimanded Aaron Finch and handed him one demerit point. Finch escaped a penalty of his match fee as it was his first offense in a 24-month period. As the Australian captain accepted the sanction proposed Elite Panel of Match Referees, a formal hearing wasn’t conducted.