Hampshire docked eight points for 'poor' pitch

An ECB Pitch Panel comprising Tony Brown (Pitch Liaison Officer) and Alan Fordham (ECB Cricket Operations Manager) was convened yesterday on the second day of Hampshire's Frizzell County Championship Division One match against Lancashire at The Rose Bowl.

After interviewing the umpires, captains and coaches of both teams and the groundsman, the panel decided that the pitch had demonstrated undue uneven bounce throughout the first two days and should, therefore, be rated 'poor.'

As a consequence, an automatic deduction of eight Championship points has been imposed on Hampshire.