Harsh to hit Yorkshire CCC with points deductions - Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson

The Yorkshire head coach accepts that some form of punishment is likely after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recommended a fine and points penalties at Tuesday’s hearing of the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC).

The ECB want Yorkshire fined £500,000 (with £350,000 suspended over three years) and hit with a 48-72 point deduction in the County Championship, plus a four-six point deduction in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup.

“It feels harsh,” said Gibson, after Yorkshire had the better of a rain-affected draw against Gloucestershire at Headingley. “It would be naive to think that we’re not going to get some sort of punishment, but the punishment does seem a bit harsh for a new group of people.

“When this thing all started, long before I got here, the club was stripped of international cricket because of what had gone on, and the ECB said that if you want international cricket back you have to satisfy us that you’re doing these things, and there was a list of things they wanted done.

“Lord Patel (the former chairman) came in and made some tough, very uncomfortable decisions I would imagine, and then we got international cricket back which seemed to me to suggest that we satisfied the ECB that we did the things that they asked us to do in the first place, so to sanction a group of people now that are trying to move the club forward doesn’t seem to make sense to me."

Gibson’s comments will be echoed by many, with Yorkshire facing a three-to-four-week wait for the CDC verdict. On the field, it was a decent week for the club; Fin Bean, George Hill and Matty Revis made centuries, while on-loan spinner Dan Moriarty took five wickets on debut.

“Those young players making hundreds was fantastic, and it puts us on a really good footing going forward,” said Gibson. “Moriarty came in and gave us some good control, and it was obviously nice that he got five wickets.” Dom Bess, on loan at Warwickshire, will return for Friday’s T20 Blast Roses game, while Yorkshire are exploring cover for Shan Masood (Pakistan commitments) during July.