The International Cricket Council (ICC) will not take any measures regarding Ben Stokes’ retiring video. The dressing room video that caused controversy when the England and Wales Cricket Board published it during the current Test match against New Zealand last month has been closed by the world governing body’s anti-corruption investigation.
The world governing body is said to have taken notice of Stokes’ goodbye speech to the England dressing room, in which he declared his retirement during the fourth day of play of last month’s last Test match against New Zealand. The video was posted on social media in England and then aired on television, although shooting inside dressing rooms without permission is prohibited by the ICC’s anti-corruption minimum criteria. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) received a letter from the ICC, but the issue has already been settled.
Why was the dressing room video objected to by the ICC?
The ICC’s anti-corruption code governs the Players and Match Officials Area, a protected area that includes dressing rooms. National federations must ensure “there are no fixed or temporary video cameras or other recording equipment set up within any dressing room used by the teams for the purposes of broadcasting video or audio footage”.
The designated anti-corruption manager must be consulted before any exceptions are made. These rules were broken by the ECB’s choice to film and broadcast throughout the game. Any such exclusions to video footage should, according to an additional rule, have no audio and last no more than two minutes.
How did Stokes justify the announcement’s timing?
Stokes reiterated that the public statement was planned ahead of time, notwithstanding the breach. “I just said, ‘You guys work with Michael Lumb and Neil Fairbrother, who work with me, and you guys just come up with a plan’,” the all-rounder said, explaining why the public announcement was made during play.
Stokes took a wicket with the very next ball after it was made public when he was bowling. Stokes dismissed New Zealand batsman Zak Foulkes on his subsequent ball as soon as the announcement was made during the fourth day’s afternoon session.
A week-long dispute that started when the ICC first contacted the ECB about the infraction has been resolved. Stokes responded on social media on Thursday, writing on X, “Sack him…” in response to a news on the original story about the ICC investigating the video. The issue has been resolved between the board and the governing body, and no further action is anticipated.
