England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has been fined 15 percent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council for his foul-mouthed tirade at South Africa's Vernon Philander during the second Test at Newlands.

Buttler was heard on the stump mic swearing at the South African allrounder Philander while keeping wicket on a tense final day in Cape Town, delivering seven obscenities in 30 seconds.

Incensed after Philander, who had stood his ground after playing a defensive stroke, had to move to avoid a return throw, Buttler let fly with a string of invective that was put to air live by host broadcaster SuperSport: "F***ing move. F***ing k***head. How the f**k am I meant to get past that f***ing gut," Buttler said, in part.

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A 15 per cent fine for England players' Test match fees equates to about A$4,000.

It is the second time Buttler has been sanctioned by the ICC for foul language, the previous instance back in an October 2016 ODI against Bangladesh.

And it's the seventh time an England player has been sanctioned for swearing on the field since the ICC began publishing records of its Code of Conduct breaches.

It’s the ninth time in the past 12 months that a player has been cited for using obscene language during an international match, and the fourth time an Englishman has been sanctioned for the offence.

An analysis of the ICC's published Code of Conduct breaches for the 21 months since Australia's ball tampering affair shows England and Bangladesh have been the teams to most regularly draw the attention of match officials.

England players have been fined 15 per cent of their match fee four times, had one fine of 30 per cent of the match fee, and been reprimanded on three other occasions.

Bangladesh players have been fined 15 per cent of their match fee on four occasions, also had fines of 20 per cent and 10 per cent of fees, and been reprimanded twice.

No Test playing nation has a clean record with the ICC but only Australia, Ireland and South Africa have had just one sanction recorded against them in that timeframe, each nation having a player reprimanded.

Australia's came when Adam Zampa was reprimanded for a swear word that was caught by a stump mic after he was hit four back-to-back boundaries during a tense World Cup win against the West Indies.

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Jonny Bairstow escaped a fine and was given a reprimand and one demerit point for using an obscenity after being dismissed in November.

That followed an earlier reprimand for hitting the stumps with his bat after being dismissed in a May 14 match.

Jason Roy has twice been sanctioned for swearing on the field. First, he was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for swearing loudly after dropping a catch in the outfield in an early World Cup match against Pakistan.

Roy was then fined 30 per cent of his match fee and handed a further two demerit points for swearing and shaking his head in dissent after he was given out in the World Cup semi-final against Australia.

Roy left fuming by dismissal

Jofra Archer was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for dissent at a wide ball call during the same Pakistan clash as Roy's first fine.

James Anderson was given a reprimand in November 2018 for "reacting with excessive and obvious disappointment" and throwing the ball onto the pitch after he was cautioned by umpires for running on the protected area of the pitch in his follow through.

That followed an incident in September 2018 when Anderson had been fined 15 per cent of his match fee when he was sanctioned for dissent. The ICC website describes the incident as: "Following a DRS review that did not go in England's favour, Anderson snatched his cap and sweater from umpire Dharmasena and spoke to him in an aggressive manner showing dissent at the decision."

In August 2018 Stuart Broad was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for giving a send-off to India' Rishabh Pant.

In other sanctions for using obscenities, Bangladesh's Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and given one demerit point for swearing in a match against New Zealand last February.

In a separate match in that series, Black Caps bowler Trent Boult was also fined 15 per cent of his match fee after he was heard swearing over the stump mic on two separate occasions.

For his latest rant, Buttler also picked up one demerit point. Players can be suspended if they accumulate four demerit points over a two-year period.

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"Buttler was found to have breached Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'use of an audible obscenity during an international match' following an incident with South Africa allrounder Vernon Philander," read an ICC statement.

"Buttler admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Andy Pycroft of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing."

England won the match by 189 runs on a thrilling fifth day to level the four-match series at 1-1.

The third Test begins on January 16 at Port Elizabeth.