Nottinghamshire have been deducted one point in the Second XI Trophy with a further suspended penalty of half the available match points in any competition.
The Club pleaded guilty to a charge that one of their players, Solomon Budinger, used a bat which did not meet the requirements of Law 5 of The Laws of Cricket 2017 Code relating to bat sizes during a Second XI Trophy match between Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire on 21 May.
The player has not been charged individually in this case, and the penalty was agreed with the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) under the summary process Regulations 5 and 6 after the player’s bat failed an in-game bat check by the umpires.
The suspended penalty will be applied if any Nottinghamshire player is in breach of this law in any competition within 12 months of the date of the match, in addition to any sanction imposed for the proven subsequent offence.
The CDC have re-iterated the importance of counties ensuring that all players’ bats are compliant at all times, with particular care being needed for trialists.
However, they took into account that Nottinghamshire had made efforts to ensure their players complied with the new law.
No financial penalty was imposed by the CDC, but they noted that in future cases a financial penalty in addition to a points deduction may be appropriate where circumstances dictate.
The Club will be making no further comment.