Arthur cleared of umpire criticism

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, was found not guilty of criticising the umpires at a hearing chaired by Chris Broad, the match referee, on Thursday night. Arthur was disappointed by decisions favouring Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds on day three and was charged after his end-of-day comments.

An ICC spokesman said Arthur did not breach the level 1.7 condition that relates to "public criticism of, or inappropriate comment on, a match-related incident". "On the evidence presented the article which quoted Arthur did not breach the ICC code of conduct," Broad said. "Disappointment at an umpire's decision is allowed by both players and team officials and I am satisfied with the explanation provided by the coach."

Arthur was reported by Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar and the third umpire Bob Parry. The officials were also responsible for the charges against Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, who both received reprimands for their behaviour while bowling in the Test.

"It's now 5-2 against us," Arthur said on day three. "I believe Hussey, Ponting and Gilchrist were all out on Wednesday. The decisions on Tuesday against Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher were suspect. We were, however, lucky to get Andrew Symonds' wicket on Wednesday. We definitely suffered as a result of a couple of poor decisions, but can't do anything about it. We also don't plan to lodge a complaint."