The ECB has thrown the book at three county players for undisciplined behaviour. The terrible trio to be disciplined were David Nash, the Middlesex wicketkeeper, Sussex's Mohammad Akram, and Hassan Adnan, the Derbyshire batsman.

Akram, the former Pakistan Test bowler, was docked three penalty points under the ECB's discipline code after being found guilty of ball tampering. He was reported by Peter Willey and Barrie Leadbeater, the umpires, for changing the condition of the ball during the County Championship match against Warwickshire earlier this month.

While Akram was reported for a Level Two offence, Adnan was got away with a Level One misdemeanour. During Derbyshire's current match against Glamorgan, Adnan was called up by Mike Harris, the umpire, for showing dissent to him after a decision. Nash received the same punishment as Adnan after he had a few too many words to say to the Surrey batsmen during last week's Championship match.

The penalty points will remain on their records for 12 months, and if they, or any player, rack up nine or more points in that period, it will result in an automatic suspension.

Meanwhile, Warwickshire escaped any penalty after an ECB pitches panel decided their track used in the nine-wicket win against Worcestershire was below average.

After a lengthy inspection, as well as interviews with umpires, captains and coaches, the powers that be decided that although the pitch misbehaved throughout the match, Warwickshire could retain all 22 points from their win.

However, Tom Moody, Worcestershire's coach, didn't agree with the decision. "I thought it was a poor surface and one you shouldn't play first-class cricket on," he grumbled. "First-class cricket should be the nursery for Test cricket. All you are going to get out of a wicket like that is a broken thumb or a broken toe."