England's county team Leicestershire have been handed a 27-point penalty and fined £5,000 after the Cricket Discipline Panel upheld a charge of preparing a “poor pitch” for their County Championship match against Glamorgan at Grace Road, according to reports.
The county club had cited an “unscheduled filming” for former India captain Sourav Ganguly's biopic as one of the factors that affected preparations for the pitch. However, the disciplinary panel dismissed the filming as a mitigating factor, noting that the shoot was held for only one day at Grace Road, the reports stated.
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The Glamorgan match was played from August 20-23, with Leicestershire winning by 42 runs. The panel deducted the 19 points the Foxes earned from the victory and imposed an additional eight-point penalty. The club was also fined £5,000.
Leicestershire have 10 days to appeal the Cricket Discipline Panel's verdict, which has left them facing a serious relegation threat in Division One, NDTV Sports reported.
Leicestershire Groundsman Cites Multiple Factors
Callum Lewin, Leicestershire's head groundsman at Grace Road, told the Cricket Regulator that several circumstances beyond his control had affected the preparation of the surface.
Lewin pointed to temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius and said the ground had also hosted two T20 matches around 10 weeks before the Glamorgan fixture.
He also cited an unscheduled Bollywood filming event four days before the match, saying he was not allowed to work on or cover the pitch during the shoot. The filming, believed to have been for the biopic of Ganguly, lasted one day. The disciplinary panel considered the circumstances but rejected the shoot as a mitigating factor.
Pitch Produced Uneven Bounce
The pitch subsequently produced uneven bounce during the Glamorgan match, with the problem attributed to “moving cracks”.
Match referee Ian Ramage recorded 43 examples of uneven bounce in his match log.
The tribunal concluded that Leicestershire had not deliberately prepared a “poor pitch”. However, it found that the club's approach to preparing the surface was “unreasonable”.
Leicestershire said it was studying the verdict and considering its available options.
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Leicestershire's Relegation Battle
Leicestershire currently have 89 points from 12 matches in Division One and now face Hampshire in their ongoing County Championship fixture.
The Foxes need to beat Hampshire to stay in the top-tier county competition, with the 27-point deduction putting their Division One status under significant pressure.
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