ECB to reconsider appeal by Middlesex over relegation
MIDDLESEX’S bid to have the ECB overturn the two-point penalty which sealed their relegation from Division One has received a boost.
The club’s appeal is being considered by Tim O’Gorman, chair of the ECB’s cricket discipline commission.
The penalty was incurred for a slow over rate during August’s game against Surrey at the Oval, a match which was abandoned in bizarre circumstances when a crossbow bolt was fired onto the outfield from outside the ground.
With Middlesex finishing one point behind Somerset in the table, the sanction ultimately had a direct bearing on the final relegation spot. It meant the Londoners join Warwickshire in Division Two only a year after winning the title.
The club argued the match’s premature end, on police advice, denied them time to improve their over rate. Director of cricket Angus Fraser had claimed Middlesex were reassured on the day by the umpires they would not be penalised.
Chief executive Richard Goatley also said that despite Middlesex challenging the penalty due to the “unique and non-cricket related circumstances surrounding the match’s abandonment”, the ECB had decided the penalty stood.
However, the club has continued to protest and this week an ECB spokesperson confirmed to The Cricket Paper their concerns were now under review: “We have referred the matter to the chairman of cricket discipline commission..”
There is no timetable for O’Gorman’s deliberations, but it is thought a decision could be made next week.
Other than confirming their submission, Middlesex will make no statement until those deliberations are over.
Ironically, it was a comprehensive Somerset victory over Middlesex at Taunton in the final week of the season which denied Middlesex a last opportunity to avoid relegation.
While criticising the Taunton pitch, Fraser accepted that the club had not played well enough throughout the year. However, he said to lose points the way the club had was “pretty gutwrenching”.
Any decision to overturn the deduction could see relegation instead for Somerset, the longest serving top-flight club, who went into the final round of matches knowing exactly how many points they needed for survival.
The ECB’s failure to resolve the issue earlier raises the prospect of relegation being decided off the pitch for the second consecutive season after Durham’s relegation last year for financial issues, which brought a reprieve for Hampshire.