Butcher fined after disciplinary hearing

The England batsman Mark Butcher has been fined £1,000 plus £500 costs at a disciplinary hearing at Lord's, for claiming that the Sri Lanka seam bowler Ruchira Perera "throws".

Butcher appeared before a three-man panel at the England and Wales Cricket Board's headquarters after making the comments Perera's action in the Croydon Advertiser shortly before the second Test at Edgbaston.

The remarks were in breach of the International Cricket Council's code of conduct. The Surrey player initially refused to accept a fine imposed by the ECB, thought to be around £1,600.

Butcher said: The matter has been discussed at length, I have already apologised for the comments that were made in the article and the decision was made that it was a breach of my contract, so I shall stand by that.

"I realise it caused some trouble to the Sri Lankan board and Perera himself and I realise the comments were perhaps inappropriate. As soon as the story came out I knew I had made an error of judgement."

An ECB statement read: "The panel took into account that an immediate apology was made after the publication appeared."

Butcher, who has 14 days to appeal against the decision, is recovering from keyhole surgery to his knee.

"My rehabilitation is going very well. I was walking around after the operation after just two or three days, so things are on course for the first Test against India," he said.