Nasser Hussain attacks ICC ban of Kagiso Rabada: "Cricket has shot itself in the foot"

The former England captain fumes at the decision which will see the South Africa seamer miss the fourth Test at The Wanderers

• Rabada banned
• International fixtures

South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada's ban for the fourth Test against England has been roundly criticised by Nasser Hussain.

The 24-year-old will miss the final Test after picking up a fourth demerit point for over-celebrating his dismissal of Joe Root on day one of the third Test in Port Elizabeth.

Having reached the threshold which triggers a ban, The Proteas will now be without one of their premier bowlers for a match which will decide the outcome of the series.

Rabada's three previous offenses took place in 2018, two against Australia which led to a two-Test, and in a one-day international with India.

But Hussain is fuming with the ruling which denies the sport of one of its best performers at The Wanderers.

"Cricket has shot itself in the foot," he said on Sky Sports. "I don't agree with the decision. 

"I want Kagiso Rabada playing at the Wanderers. From what I saw yesterday I don't think that is a demerit point.

"Was there any physical contact? Was there any sledging? A bowler showed some emotion.

"We sit in air-conditioned rooms and have this righteous, holier-than-thou attitude and I think we forget what it is like out there in the heat of battle.

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"If Jos Buttler can stand behind the stumps and swear four times at Vernon Philander you know the emotions of the game of cricket.

"Let's have 11 robots out there. Let's take emotion out of the game.

"When you saw it yesterday did you think he must be fined and banned for that?

"The ICC should be in charge of how players carry on. There are kids watching, we can't have swearing. The ICC are also in charge of a game, Test cricket, that might be dying.

"If I've got tickets for the Wanderers and I've spent my hard-earned cash and some of those people are going to watch Kagiso Rabada bowl, I'd feel short-changed that he is not there.

"I don't think he made a mistake yesterday. He was foolish for someone on three demerit points to do that. I think we're sanitising the game if we can't have anything like that."

Fellow former England captain Kevin Pietersen was however in agreement with the ICC's decision, given his charge sheet over the last 24 months.

^{Kevin Pietersen was in favour of the reprimand}

"Have a look at the dismissal of Zak Crawley in the second Test and look at the aggression of Rabada," said Pietersen, referring to a similar reaction from the seamer at Cape Town, while on commentary.

"Now I'm cool with aggression but he virtually jumps into Crawley in the popping crease, in the batsman's personal space.

"I watched that and thought to myself as a batter 'I tell you what if any batsman got close to me like that he might not have an ankle.

"Then you have a look at the Root dismissal and Rabada is right in his personal space. 

"The people I actually feel sorry for with the ban are Faf du Plessis, the captain, Mark Boucher and the rest of the South Africa players because they are going to miss their strike bowler at the Wanderers and it's unnecessary.

"Rabada has accumulated the points and accepted the guilt - he knows he's done something wrong. 

"A lot of people are saying the ICC are wrong; they are not. He's accumulated the points. He should learn from his mistakes."