ICC bans Sam Billings for wearing eco-friendly gloves in New Zealand tour

England cricketer Sam Billings will not be sporting his new eco-friendly batting gloves after the International Cricket Council (ICC) banned him as they fail to comply with an obscure colour related kit regulation.

According to the Daily Mail, Sam Billings was informed about the same by the match umpire Andy Pycroft before England faced New Zealand in the first T20I in Christchurch. Billings had to send for regular gloves which he eventually wore during the match.

The Gray-Nicolls gloves that Sam Billings sports are called Off-Cuts because they are made from recycled cricket equipment and is considered illegal by the international cricket body because as per the regulations 50 per cent of any batting gloves worn in a limited overs must be white or the same colour as the base colour of the relevent team’s jersey.

England’s T20 jersey is mostly red, while Billings gloves are lime green, maroon, sky blue and dark blue. The 28 year old wore the gloves during a warm-up match and intended to do so again at the T10 tournament in UAE later thismonth.

The Grey-Nicolls launched the gloves only a week ago, when Billings himself led the praise, ‘It’s a great initiative,’ he said. ‘I think the world generally now is trying to get far cleaner and recycle far more. I love the fancy colours, and the great thing about it is the quality is the same as any other product – and it looks incredible.’

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