ADELAIDE, Australia (AP):

Spin bowler Harbhajan Singh's three-Test suspension for racial abuse was down-graded to a fine yesterday, allowing India's cricket tour of Australia to continue.

The International Cricket Council said following a one-day appeal hearing that the charge had been reduced to a lesser one of general abuse. Instead of the suspension, Singh was fined 50 per cent of his match fee - about 3,000 Australian dollars (US$2,665) - from the second Test at Sydney.

In Sydney, Harbjajan clashed verbally with Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds, allegedly calling Symonds, who is of West Indian descent, a ''monkey".

When Harbhajan's original three-match ban was announced, India threatened to cancel the remainder of the four-match Test series. There were reports out of India on Monday that the team would not play the remainder of its Australian matches unless the suspension was overturned at the appeal hearing.

Cricket Australia spokesman Peter Young said India was scheduled to fly to Melbourne for Friday's Twenty20 match where about 90,000 tickets have been sold at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A limited-overs series involving Australia and Sri Lanka begins on Sunday in Brisbane with India playing Australia at the Gabba.

Former South Africa Test cricketer Mike Procter, who acted as match referee through the four-Test series, applied the original ban after accepting evidence at a hearing in Sydney that Harbhajan had used the offensive term. Harbhajan strenuously denied the charge.

The appeal hearing was heard by New Zealand High Court Judge John Hansen, who is also an International Cricket Council Code of Conduct commissioner.