(Reuters) - Essex have been deducted 12 points after England's Cricket Regulator found their player Feroze Khushi used an oversized bat earlier this season, the County Championship side said on Wednesday.
In a match against Nottinghamshire in April, Khushi's bat manufactured by Gray-Nicolls was examined by umpires during his innings and it failed a bat-gauge test.
Khushi scored 21 off 27 in that innings before he was asked to replace his bat. Essex went on to win the match by 254 runs, earning 20 points in the process.
"Essex submitted an appeal, raising concerns of significant and material procedural irregularities that impacted upon the sanction, which was supported by the Cricket Regulator," Essex said in a statement.
"Concerns about inconsistencies with the compliance of bat gauges in line with the relevant MCC Laws of Cricket was also highlighted, however despite these concerns, the appeal was unsuccessful."
The points deduction effectively means Essex's chances of winning the County Championship title are all but over as the season draws to a close this month and the county side's president Keith Fletcher slammed the country's cricket board (ECB).
"Gray-Nicolls have backed us all the way. There are several different bat gauges and they say they followed the rules," Fletcher told The Times.
"I assume the ECB thought this was cheating and the appeal panel is trying to flex its muscles. Feroze does not believe he did anything wrong and the whole side has been penalised, not just the one player."
According to the laws of the game, a bat's width cannot be more than 10.8 cm, the depth cannot be more than 6.7 cm and the edges cannot exceed 4 cm. The bats must also pass a bat-gauge test.
In 2022, Durham were similarly docked 10 points when Australia batter Nic Maddinson's bat failed a bat-gauge test when they played Derbyshire.