Essex respond to disciplinary verdict

ESSEX have issued a statement in the wake of skipper James Foster being handed an immediate two-match ban and the club receiving a �5,000 fine for disciplinary offences.

The punishments were handed out yesterday by a cricket discipline commission panel which was convened to hear England and Wales Cricket Board charged levelled against the club.

The statement reads: “The club and James Foster acknowledge that there has been a breach of ECB discipline regulations and accept the sanctions that have been imposed.

“We are, however, disappointed that the actions taken by the club following umpires’ reports on misconduct of players have been ignored by the disciplinary committee. We should like to clarify that we do take any breaches of discipline very seriously and have an internal process to deal with them. If a transgression is reported to us we investigate the circumstances of the offence and if considered appropriate we take robust action against the offending player.

“The captain and the players have all been reminded that whilst we recognise the need to play with passion and intensity they have a responsibility to uphold the traditions game and operate within the regulations and in the spirit of cricket.

“The club has every confidence in James and his abilities as captain. In his long career he has had an unblemished disciplinary record with the ECB, and both James and the club now wish to draw a line under these unfortunate incidents.

“The club do not wish to make any further comment.”