Sussex penalised for breach, Cheteshwar Pujara suspended for one County Championship match

Sussex have been slapped a 12-point penalty in the ongoing County Championship as a result of getting four fixed penalties in one season. The club’s skipper Cheteshwar Pujara has been suspended for a match as per ECB’s Professional Conduct Regulations.

As per Professional Conduct Regulations, this stands as a separate offence for the team while Regulation 4.29 states that the automatic penalty for such an offence shall be a deduction of 12 points.

"By virtue of receiving two additional fixed penalties in the County Championship match against Leicestershire on 13 September 2023, Sussex CCC has now met the threshold of four fixed penalties in one season, having previously received two fixed penalties in the Championship earlier in the season," an ECB statement read.

"Regulation 4.30 of the Professional Conduct Regulations sets out that it shall be a separate offence for the captain where the same individual captained the team in all of the matches in which the fixed penalties were received, and that the captain will receive an automatic suspension of one match from that competition,” the statement added.

Pujara and Sussex have accepted the sanctions without challenging it. The incidents related to the suspension involve Haines, Jack Carson and Ari Karvelas – neither of whom has been picked for Sussex’s upcoming clash against Derbyshire, starting September 19.

"Tom Haines and Jack Carson have been made unavailable for selection by Head Coach Paul Farbrace due to their conduct in the previous game. Ari Karvelas is also unavailable until an investigation into an incident in the Leicestershire game has been concluded,” a Sussex statement read.

Sussex, who were placed third with 129 points, have dropped to fifth following penalty imposition.