Gloucestershire avoid penalty for alleged breach of pitch regulations

The Cricket Regulator has spared Gloucestershire punishment for an alleged breach of pitch regulations after their Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Northamptonshire was called off on day one, with umpires concerned over player safety on a hybrid pitch.

The fixture, which took place in Bristol at the end of August, was abandoned after just 65.1 overs with umpires Chris Watts and Sue Redfern stopping the match in the final session. Northamptonshire batters Ricardo Vasconcelos and Rob Keogh were both forced to retire hurt after being struck on the hand by Gloucestershire quick Ajeet Singh Dale. Vasconcelos suffered a fracture to his finger.

Northamptonshire were awarded 11 points, while Gloucestershire received none. "The match has been abandoned because there was a foreseeable risk to the batters. In the opinion of the umpires, it would be unreasonable to continue," read a statement released by the umpires later that day.

Following a full investigation by The Regulator - which involved interviewing the match officials, captains, coaches, and groundstaff, viewing live stream footage, and relying on expert technical reports - the disciplinary body decided no charges would be brought against the county at this time. However, they warned Gloucestershire that they must ensure the situation does not arise again, acknowledging the umpires made the right call regarding player welfare.

A statement released on Wednesday read: "The Cricket Regulator was satisfied, as a result of those enquiries, that the bounce was significantly uneven and dangerous to the players. The Cricket Regulator therefore fully supports the decisions taken by the match officials to abandon the match in the circumstances with which they were presented.

"However, the Cricket Regulator is satisfied that Gloucestershire CCC have demonstrated that they sought, acting reasonably, to prepare the best quality pitch that they could for the match they were staging. As a result, no charges will be brought on this occasion.

"The Cricket Regulator does however expect Gloucestershire CCC to take steps to prevent issues of this nature arising in the future. The pitch advisor who investigated the pitch at Bristol will offer to provide support to Gloucestershire CCC moving forward."

In response, Gloucestershire, while accepting of the The Regulator's decision, and the recommendation to liaise with the ECB on pitch preparation, reiterated their disappointment at the match officials' decision to abandon the match. As well as a reputational and financial hit, the lack of points also scuppered their promotion push.

"The Club has been significantly punished by the inability to compete for points in the match, suffering reputational damage and loss of matchday earnings in the process. Prior to the match we still retained hopes of challenging for promotion to Division One.

"As with the preparation of all pitches at the Seat Unique Stadium, Gloucestershire's Groundstaff do so at all times with the intention of creating a fair balance between bat and ball, irrespective of the opposition. As the Regulator points out in its findings, the Groundstaff 'prepared the pitch as they had done previously' for a County Championship match against Middlesex earlier in the season, played on the same hybrid pitch which was rated as 'good'.

"The Regulator goes on to say the pitch prepared against Northamptonshire "appeared to be of the same standard as previously prepared 'good' pitches. In light of these comments, Gloucestershire looks forward to a dialogue with the Regulator on what more could have been done by the Club to, as the Regulator suggests, 'ensure that the pitch performed better than it did'."