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In their North Group match against Durham in July, Worcestershire’s all-rounder Josh Cobb was found to have used an illegally-sized bat. As a result, Cobb received a suspended two-point deduction for the upcoming season’s Vitality Blast.
Cobb, who had not yet faced a delivery in the Durham game, acknowledged violating ECB Directives 3.2 and 3.3 after his bat failed a bat-gauge test. After an appeal, the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) adjudicator changed the original penalty from a straight points deduction to a suspended penalty that would be applied if Worcestershire commits the same offence again.
This is the second time that a similar penalty has been imposed in county cricket this summer, the first being the 12-point reduction that Essex received in the County Championship last month as a result of Feroz Khushi’s rule violation during their season-opening match against Nottinghamshire in April.
With their final game of the season this week at home against Surrey, who have already been crowned champions, Essex issued a sharp response to that decision, calling it “stupid” in part because it destroyed the club’s hopes of contending for the County Championship.
Worcestershire was equally shocked by the initial decision and claimed in their appeal that dropping two points may spell the difference between going through to the Vitality Blast knockout stages and being eliminated early.
“Being docked points next year potentially/effectively puts a club of our size, with our resources, out of contention for qualification to the later rounds in 2025,” the club wrote to the adjudicator, Chris Tickle. “This has an impact on next year’s squad, coaching team, sponsors and, therefore, the club’s finances. This impact is potentially devastating to us and is disproportionate.”
In his amended verdict, Tickle wrote: “Given those circumstances, I am persuaded that it is in the interests of justice to review my decision.”