Second club fail in appeal against controversial 235-point deduction

SAM MORSHEAD: According to the league's ruling, Adnan Ghaus and Rajiv Kumar did not qualify for domestic player status, despite holding British passports

A second North Staffs and South Cheshire Premier League club have had their appeal against a mammoth and controversial points deduction rejected.

Elworth were hit with a 235-point penalty by league officials earlier this year after it was claimed they incorrectly registered two of their players prior to the start of the campaign.

According to the league's ruling, Adnan Ghaus and Rajiv Kumar did not qualify for domestic player status, despite holding British passports, due to the fact they were born outside of the UK and had not spent at least 210 days in the country up to March 31, 2018.

The pair, the league said, were only eligible for category 3 overseas status. Given only one category 3 player is permitted in each playing XI per game, the club were penalised all of the points they accrued with an excess number in their side.

The substantial deduction effectively relegated Elworth, pending the appeal process.

^{Wording on the Play Cricket portal are at the centre of the controversy}

The club disputed the initial verdict and attended an appeal hearing on October 30. Six days later, they were informed that they had not been successful and the original decision of the disciplinary panel would stand.

Elworth said in a statement that would "continue to consider the outcome of the appeal". Their chairman, David Buckley, has urged members not to make comments about the issue on social media.

It remains to be seen whether they will take the same route as another local side, Burslem, who are pursuing legal action after they were hit with a similar penalty over the registration of former Glamorgan and Somerset allrounder Jim Allenby.

READ: The Cricketer's initial story on the Burslem points deduction earlier this year

Allenby, like Ghaus and Kumar, is a UK resident and British passport holder whose home is in Cardiff. He signed as Burslem's primary paid player for 2018 last year and was approved as such by the NSSCPL prior to the start of the season.

However, following a league crackdown on registrations following a change in league manager in mid-July, Burslem were told he had been incorrectly registered. They later endured a 71-point fine.

The new manager of the league, Brian Lawton, also serves as chairman of the NSSCPL and is a lifetime president of Whitmore, who were sitting bottom of the division prior to the points deductions being handed out to Elworth and Burslem.

Kumar was on the books of Whitmore between 2012 and 2016 without his registration status being called into question.

^{Burslem were penalised for incorrectly registering British passport holder and UK resident Jim Allenby as a domestic player}

Both cases highlight contradictions in the registration criteria between the online registration portal, Play Cricket, and the ECB guideline flow chart which the NSSCPL used to determine qualification criteria.

In the portal, a category 1 player was at the time defined as "a player qualified to play for England under the current ECB regulations".

All of the players implicated are eligible to play for England and to play county cricket as a domestic player according to current ECB rules.

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The Cricketer understands there is discontent among the clubs at the fact that one individual was part of the disciplinary panels which heard both cases, and that the same individual was in attendance at at least one of the appeal hearings.

While currently focused only on the two clubs, the issue could have greater ramifications for recreational cricket in the UK at large.

In theory, the practical implementation of the rules by the NSSCPL means any British citizen born outside of the UK who spends the winter months out of the country, for work or recreational purposes and regardless of their ability, could be forced to register as a category 3 overseas player.

^{Both Elworth and Burslem are set to be relegated after their appeals were unsuccessful}

It could also lead to clubs having to independently ratify every player's birth certificate to prevent cases such as those involving Elworth and Burslem from affecting their own teams.

The ECB has been monitoring the situation and is understood to have sought legal advice regarding the application of registration guidelines by individual leagues.

A governing body spokesperson told The Cricketer earlier this year that the description on the Play Cricket portal is a “brief heading to make things simple when registering a player and does not supersede the generic regulations or league rules”.

The ECB say that the tricky subject of player registrations is under constant review. Before and at the end of each summer, discussions take place with the Home Office and the specific qualification criteria for each category is thoroughly assessed.

The governing body say that the specifications for overseas players within the professional game and the largely amateur club circuit are different because, while ICC directives and EU law can impact the county game, lower down the ladder the ECB is trying to create a consistent set of rules with which teams can become familiar.