County Championship 2022/22 Div 01: Lancashire docked 6 points for disciplinary transgressions

Emirates Old Trafford [Twitter]

County club Lancashire has been docked six championship points by the Cricket Discipline Commission panel for two disciplinary transgressions, denting their hopes of clinching the title in the ongoing season.

Last year, Lancashire was given a 12-point suspended punishment for repeated infringements.

This summer, the Cricket Discipline Commission Panel found two Lancashire players- Dane Vilas and Luke Wells- for minor infringements.

Vilas has been found guilty of showing dissent at an umpire's decision during a Division 01 fixture against Warwickshire in June.

Wells, on the other hand, has been reprimanded for using bad language during a fixture against Northamptonshire back in July.

Wells was also found guilty of hitting his bat on the ground after being bowled in a fixture against Glamorgan last summer. In a Twitter post, Wells acknowledged his mistake and apologised to the Lancashire fans.

However, the penalty has not gone down well with the club. While Lancashire have acknowledged the independence of CDC from the ECB, their director of cricket, Mark Chilton described the punishment as "unduly harsh"

Here's what Lancashire's director of cricket, Mark Chilton said:

''Following all our hard work throughout the winter and in the County Championship this season, to be deducted points for what are, in our opinion, minor indiscretions is gut-wrenching," 

"In our opinion, both fixed penalties we received were unduly harsh punishments, which could have gone either way, and it is this inconsistency in the decision-making that makes this difficult to take."

Lancashire hopes of winning the championship takes a massive dent

The six-point penalty means that Lancashire's hopes of clinching the county championship are all but over.

They are currently placed at the third-spot in the Division 01 table, with 182 points after 12 matches.

The six-point penalty has widened the gulf between them and the second-placed Surrey (by 30 points) and top-ranked Hampshire by 33 points.

Lancashire will next play Essex between September 20-23 at Chelmsford.

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