Mascarenhas hit by ban over Twitter

Dimitri Mascarenhas, the Hampshire captain, has been suspended for 14 days from the start of next season following his Twitter outburst against Geoff Miller, the national selector.

Mascarenhas, who has played 20 ODIs and 14 Twenty20s for England, pleaded guilty to two charges of the personal attack on Miller being against ECB directives and of bringing the game into disrepute. He was also ordered to pay £500 towards the costs of the hearing.

The punishment stemmed from Mascarenhas posting two foul-mouth messages on his Twitter feed earlier this month. "Chairman of selectors came to Liverpool and didn't even come and say hi...what a p***k. Doesn't take much to say hello, does it," he wrote, before added. "Geoff Miller is a complete k**b. He had no clue what he is doing. Fing p***k."

Mascarenhas admitted accidentally posting them during a night out and had already been fined £1000 by his county who didn't impose a ban because of the long-term achillies injury that has kept him out for most of the 2010 season.

His Twitter mistake followed Kevin Pietersen's own social-media issue when he revealed his one-day omission via his account adding that it was a "f**k-up." He quickly removed the post and apologised but was fined by the ECB.