Publications
Partners
London - Australia coach Darren Lehmann was fined 20 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday after accusing England's Stuart Broad of "blatant cheating".
The 27-year-old Broad angered Australia during England's narrow 14-run first Test win at Trent Bridge when he refused to walk after a thick edge deflected off the wicketkeeper's gloves to slip.
Victory sent England on their way to taking an unbeatable 3-0 series lead in the Ashes heading into the ongoing fifth and final Test at The Oval, which started on Wednesday.
After Broad defended his actions earlier this week, an unimpressed Lehmann told Australia radio station Triple M in an interview broadcast on Wednesday: "Certainly our players haven't forgotten, they're calling him everything under the sun as they go past.
"I hope the Australian public are the same because that was just blatant cheating. I don't advocate walking but when you hit it to first slip it's pretty hard," he said.
"From my point of view I just hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer (during the return series in Australia starting in November) and I hope he cries and he goes home," Lehmann added.
"I just hope everyone gets stuck into him because the way he's carried on and the way he's commented in public about it is ridiculous."
"He hit it to first slip ... and the biggest problem there is the poor umpire cops all the crap that he gets in (the) paper and Stuart Broad makes them look like fools," he added.
"From my point of view it's poor, so I hope the public actually get stuck into him."
Lehmann, however, was found to have breached article 2.1.7 of the ICC code of conduct covering players and support staff which relates to "public criticism or inappropriate comment" relating to players, match officials and support staff.
Former Australia batsman Lehmann was fined 20 percent of his match fee, a penalty believed to amount to some AUS$ 3,000 (1,733) by match referee Roshan Mahanama at The Oval after stumps on Thursday's second day of the fifth Test.
"Whilst noting the context and nature of the comments made, showing mutual respect for one's fellow professionals -- including for coaches, players and match officials - is a cornerstone of how we play the game," ICC chief executive David Richardson said.
Earlier this week, Broad said the incident had not been as clear-cut as widely portrayed.
"It was an odd one. There was no particular noise because of the noise of (Brad) Haddin's gloves," he said.
"So it wasn't as clear-cut as everyone had thought, although I knew I'd hit it."
