ICC charges Windies' Gabriel over anti-gay slur

Gros Islet - The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged West Indies bowler Shannon Gabriel after he was accused by England captain Joe Root of making a homophobic comment.

In the third Test in St. Lucia on Monday, Root was picked up on a broadcast feed saying to Gabriel: "Don't use it as an insult. There's nothing wrong with being gay." The preceding comment by Gabriel could not be heard on the clip posted by British broadcaster Sky Sports.

The ICC said on Tuesday that Gabriel had been charged with a breach of its code of conduct. The governing body tweeted that "the charge, which was laid by match umpires, will now be dealt with by match referee Jeff Crowe."

British sports minister Mims Davies praised Root "for doing the absolute right thing to properly call this out."

Root married Carrie Cotterell in December.

Shannon Gabriel has been charged with a breach Article 2.13 of the ICC Code of Conduct. The charge, which was laid by match umpires, will now be dealt with by Match Referee Jeff Crowe. Until the proceedings have concluded, the ICC will not comment further. @ICC

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) February 12, 2019

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Captain Joe Root. ?? —————— Listen to what was picked up by the stump microphone. The @englandcricket man stands up to Shannon Gabriel and comments made during an on-field exchange. —————— “There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”

A post shared by Sky Sports (@skysports) on Feb 12, 2019 at 7:47am PST