Kevin Pietersen, the Melbourne Stars batsman, was charged and fined $5000 by Cricket Australia on Friday (February 3) for calling an umpiring error an "absolute shocker" on air during the Big Bash League semi-final against Perth Scorchers. "Shocker. Absolute shocker," Pietersen said on air while speaking to the Channel 10 commentators after Scorchers' batsman Sam Whiteman was adjudged not out for a caught behind appeal. "He (the umpire) said it could have been glove or it could have been pad. I said 'Well, he's got big gloves and big pads to reach that'. "Massive. Massive nick," the Stars batsman added. Shawn Craig, the on-field umpire during the time, admitted later that he got the call wrong. "It was a really muffled noise and so I didn't think it was bat," Craig said on Optus Sport's Umpires' Verdict. "I got it wrong. He (Whiteman) has hit it, there's no doubt I got it wrong and it's one of those ones I wish I could take back." However, that being part and parcel of the game, CA decided to charge Pietersen for breaching the Code of Conduct for "public or media comment that is detrimental to the interest of cricket, irrespective of when or where such comment is made". The batsman accepted the charge at the hearing on Thursday, but disputed the sanction. He can appeal and have the matter heard by a CA Code of Conduct Commissioner, for which he has a 48-hour period to decide.