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.
Published 11 September 2024, 18:28 IST