India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, who is leading Sussex in Division II of the ongoing County Championship, has been handed a one-match ban while his side has been slapped a 12-point penalty after the club received their fourth fixed penalty of the season.
Sussex received its third and fourth penalties of the ongoing season during their win over Leicestershire at Hove in the recent round of the County Championship last week.
County Championships rules states that accumulating four penalties during a season automatically hands a 12-point deduction under regulation 4.29 of the Professional Conduct Regulations. Meanwhile, regulation 3.0 says that the captain leading the side in all of the matches where the penalties were received shall also be suspended for a match when the four-penalty threshold is crossed.
Notably, Sussex went into the match against Leicestershire with two fixed penalties against them and Pujara was the first to receive a penalty when he was reprimanded for “wilfully mistreating any part of the cricket ground, equipment or implements used in the match” in Sussex’s first match of the season against Durham.
So far, Pujara has slammed three centuries for Sussex in the ongoing season and averages 54.08.
After the development, Tom Alsop will now lead the side against Derbyshire, starting on Tuesday.
“It is a great shame that these incidents have tarnished what was a fantastic game against Leicestershire, and all the hard work that has gone into the season. I am disappointed for our fantastic members and supporters and can assure them we will be working hard to make sure we are not in this position again,” Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace was quoted as saying by the media.
“Ultimately it has cost us the availability of Cheteshwar and we have been deducted 12 points. We have also decided it is not appropriate for Ari Karvelas to be made available for selection until the investigation that is in place has been concluded. This provides other players in our squad with a great opportunity to show they can perform at this level, and more importantly, contribute towards the team challenge to win matches in the County Championship,” he said.