Sussex Docked 24 Points

 

Sussex have been deducted 24 points from their final Bob Willis Trophy total after seamer Mitchell Claydon was found guilty of ball-tampering.

Claydon was given a nine-match suspension for putting hand sanitiser on the ball in a game against Middlesex on 23 August.

Sussex had finished bottom of their Bob Willis Trophy group with 36 points and that will now be reduced to 12.

Claydon's ban will see him miss the first two matches of next season.

Both the county and Claydon have been charged with a breach of England and Wales Cricket Board directives 3.3 and 3.7, which state:

• No participant may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.
• Contravention of the Bob Willis Trophy playing conditions 5 or 41.2… shall be regarded as (i) unfair and improper conduct; and (ii) conduct prejudicial to the interests of cricket and likely to bring the game into disrepute.
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01 Oct 2020

Sussex seamer Mitchell Claydon has been banned for nine matches after admitting a charge relating to altering the condition of the ball.

The charge relates to their Bob Willis Trophy game against Middlesex on 23 August and BBC Sport understands he put hand sanitiser on the ball.

The sanction took into account a six-match playing suspension imposed on the 37-year-old Australian by Sussex, which the player has already served.

Sussex have also been charged in relation to the incident.

The suspension was imposed by the Cricket Discipline Commission Panel on Wednesday, 30 September.

As such, their defeat by Lancashire in the T20 Blast quarter-finals on Thursday was the first of the three remaining games and he will now miss the first two competitive matches of the 2021 season.

Claydon was charged with a breach of ECB Directives 3.3 and 3.7, which state:

• 3.3 No Participant may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.
• 3.7 Contravention of the Bob Willis Trophy Playing Conditions 5 or 41.2 … shall be regarded as (i) unfair and improper conduct; and (ii) conduct prejudicial to the interests of cricket and likely to bring the game into disrepute.

Sussex were also charged with breaching the same directives and a CDC Disciplinary Hearing Panel will hear this case in due course. BBC Sport

Congratulations Essex

Essex defied Somerset's bowlers to draw the Bob Willis Trophy final but take the first title after they had secured a first-innings lead of 36 runs.

The county champions were set a target of 237 to win, but after being reduced to 98-4 batted out for a draw.

Ryan ten Doeschate (46) and Adam Wheater (14 not out) survived for almost two hours under the floodlights before Essex finished on 179-6.

It means Somerset's wait for a first red-ball county title continues.

Glamorgan Cricket: County expect 2021 conference set-up

Glamorgan are expecting a conference system to be used again for four-day cricket in 2021.

The three conferences were used to replace first and second divisions to create a shortened 2020 fixture-list.

"It's the view of the counties and the ECB that a conference format would be appropriate for next year," chairman Gareth Williams told a members' forum.

"That will work next year in less of a regional format.. with a comprehensive review at the end of it."

It is expected the 2021 groups will be seeded on recent performances, rather than decided geographically to cut down travelling.

The conference system gives all 18 counties the chance of winning the tournament, with teams playing 10 group matches against their five opponents, followed by four further games in September against teams with a similar ranking in the other conferences.

Just five four-day games were played in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic meaning county cricket did not start until 1 August, nearly four months late.

Williams says the future financial stability of the county game depends on international fixtures and the Hundred franchise tournament, which includes a Welsh-based team, taking place in 2021.

"If that happens, we are reasonably confident we will have a degree of financial security going forward," said Williams.

"We are reasonably optimistic we will be able to survive unless something staggering happens."

Glamorgan and the 17 English counties are still getting regular payments from the England and Wales Cricket Board after the televising of international games and T20 Blast matches kept the sport's finances alive.

Glamorgan played all their games behind closed doors in 2020, although they picked up nearly 600,0000 views of a video streaming system including BBC commentary for games at Sophia Gardens.

"Fingers crossed the virus will be contained or we have a vaccine (by April)," chief executive Hugh Morris told the online meeting.

"We all want members back at Sophia Gardens."

The club has been granted a coronavirus business loan of £700,000, which it will use from December in the absence of the conference income which the club usually generates during the winter, and is also applying for other government funding.

"We will have a smaller playing staff, and we've had job cuts across all departments, warned Morris.

"The position is as positive as we could have hoped for in these circumstances.

"The critical issue is if we're in this situation again next summer. If we can't play in front of crowds it's going to be a real problem, not only for us but for the whole of our sport." BBCSport

Hundred: England players could move teams depending on central contracts

Teams in The Hundred face having to re-negotiate with some of their star names depending on whether or not they are given an England central contract.

Each of the eight men's teams chose a player with an England Test contract for the 2020 season, which was postponed because of coronavirus.

However, if a team now has more than one player with a Test contract in 2021, they must choose which to keep.

The others will go into an 'England pot' and could be re-allocated.

An example of this would be Southern Brave, who would have had Jofra Archer and Ollie Pope for the 2020 season, both of whom can expect England contracts for the coming year.

Brave would have to choose which player to keep, with the other then becoming available to teams who do not have a contracted player.

Conversely, Welsh Fire's contracted player was Jonny Bairstow, who could lose his England deal. Fire can still negotiate to keep Bairstow as part of their remaining roster but, if no agreement is made, he would become a free agent and enter the draft.

All teams will have at least one England contracted player, but no more than two.

The contracted players can also opt of playing in The Hundred, like James Anderson and Stuart Broad did in 2020.

After England players are allocated, teams can negotiate with the rest of their squads and can potentially keep all of them, depending on availability and price band.

Contracts in 2021 will be across seven price bands between £100,000 and £24,000, down from £125,000 and £30,000 in 2020.

Kolpak players will not be permitted next year, so they would potentially have to become overseas players, of which each squad is allowed a maximum of three.

Once player retentions are agreed, there will be a draft to fill remaining slots in squads in early 2021.

In the women's Hundred, all players can roll over their 2020 contracts to 2021, with any not choosing to do so then free to be selected in an open-market system. BBCSport