LEICESTERSHIRE'S RELEGATION CONFIRMED AFTER POINTS PENALTY APPEAL FAILS

Leicestershire's relegation from Division One of the County Championship has been confirmed after an appeals panel rejected their challenge to a points penalty. Essex, who finished 17 points above Leicestershire, have therefore retained their place in the division, ending over five weeks of uncertainty since the season ended. An independent discipline panel had imposed a 27-point penalty on Leicestershire during the penultimate match of the season, after their pitch for an earlier match against Glamorgan was rated "poor" and "sub-standard". Leicestershire lost the 19 points they earned in winning that match, along with a further eight-point deduction, a suspended eight-point penalty and a £5,000 fine.

The discipline panel found Leicestershire had failed to show it acted reasonably in preparing the pitch. The penalty dropped Leicestershire to the bottom of the table, and they were provisionally relegated eight days after the season ended, pending their appeal. Their position improved when eight points were reinstated after the Cricket Regulator raised questions with the discipline panel. During the appeal, Leicestershire's legal representative, Mr Harris, sought to introduce fresh evidence from Tony Hemmings, the Pakistan Cricket Board's chief curator.

The appeals panel said: "TH's (Hemmings') evidence was reasonably available at the time of that hearing and we reject Mr Harris' submission to the contrary." It found there "appears to have been a woeful lack of understanding" of the regulations among those in charge at Leicestershire. It also said the club was "the author of its own misfortune". The panel added that "senior executives at a professional cricket club should be familiar with the regulations, or at least to remind themselves of them as circumstances may require".