Middlesex have lost their appeal against the two-point penalty imposed on them by the ECB following their abandoned game against Surrey. It means their relegation stands and the 2016 County Champions will start the 2018 season in Division Two.
Middlesex were relegated by a point after losing their final match of the season against Somerset. However they claimed there were grounds for an appeal against their penalty after the match against Surrey was stopped when a crossbow bolt was fired into the Oval.
Initially Middlesex felt there was “no scope” for an appeal against their subsequent two-point deduction but later changed their minds and lodged one with the ECB. However, the cricket discipline commission upheld the deduction.
The CDC chairman, Tim O’Gorman, said: “It is in the interests of the whole game that arrangements are put in place to prevent slow over rates, and it is noted that the requirement of 16 overs per hour is a minimum rate.
“The rules relating to over rates are clear and understood by all teams, coaches, players, and captains. Although it may be common practice that teams will seek to make up time later in a match, even in the second innings, if they seek to do this they must also be aware that approaching their over rate in such a way carries with it an inherent risk. Middlesex have sought to argue that it was only because of the abandonment of the game that they did not make up their overs but that cannot be entirely correct. There was no guarantee that, if the game had run its normal course those overs could ever have been made up.
“I do not accept that Middlesex only agreed to the abandonment of the match on condition that their slow over rate in the first innings would be overlooked. It is not within the power or gift of either the umpires or the players to make deals like that. The match was abandoned for safety reasons. Play ended accordingly and the points earned or deducted should stand with effect from that time.”
The arrow, which measured around 12 to 18 inches, is thought to have been fired from outside the ground and landed within feet of the players. No one was injured but the Surrey chief executive, Richard Gould, said: “it could very easily have killed someone”.
