Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch has received an official reprimand for an incident that occurred during his team’s narrow loss to England in the opening T20I in Perth on Sunday (October 9). Finch was found to have used inappropriate language during the ninth over of England’s innings and in doing so breached the Level 1 ICC Code of Conduct.


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The Australia skipper was found to have breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “use of an audible obscenity during an International Match.”


Finch admitted the offence and received an official reprimand and one demerit point was added to his disciplinary record. While the offence was Finch’s first in the last 24 months, the Aussie batter does run the risk of being suspended should further incidents occur during the remainder of the series or at the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.


When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned. Finch will lead Australia in the remaining two T20I against England in Canberra this week, before the reigning champions commence their T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Sydney on October 22.


After deliberating with his teammates on whether to call for a review, Finch asked the umpires whether the catch had carried to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. The captain wasn’t given an answer by the on-field umpires, leaving him fuming as time ran out on the DRS timer.


“Could have been nice to know inside 15 f***ing seconds,” he vented in comments that were picked up by the stump microphones.


Watch Aaron Finch abusing the umpire in 1st T20 vs England here…



Finch confirmed he will return to the top of the order for Australia’s upcoming T20s against England. “We’re going to keep trying things. I’m going to go back to the top for the next game, which was always the plan,” he told Fox Cricket after Sunday’s defeat.


“We’d get to the first two (T20s against West Indies) and then this game, then I’d go back to the top as preparation for the World Cup. It was just about giving (Cameron Green) an opportunity at the top and to keep trying things. After this little burst, especially (with) guys coming off a lot of injuries as well … you have to be prepared. So just trying to get as many games into Greeny in case he has to be called into the squad,” he added.