Essex have described English cricket chiefs as “absolutely stupid” for docking the county 12 points because one of their players used a bat ruled too wide. The club’s slim hopes of winning the County Championship First Division have all but evaporated after a bat, used by Feroze Khushi in April’s match against Nottinghamshire, was found to have exceeded the permitted dimensions. Khushi made 21 in his second innings when the bat was ruled to have breached the regulations when tested by the match umpires.

The decision was made by the Cricket Discipline Commission, which is independent of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

However, that did not prevent Essex president and former England captain Keith Fletcher from hitting out at the ECB.

“Feroze does not believe he did anything wrong and the whole side has been penalised, not just the one player,” Fletcher told The Times.

“As a batsman I know that a few millimetres either way is not going to have any effect on performance. Umpires test bats at random and I think the ECB have been absolutely stupid.”

Essex are now 54 points behind runaway leaders and reigning champions Surrey.

Durham were deducted 10 points in 2022 when a bat was found to exceed the standard dimensions, while Derbyshire lost two points in the One-Day Cup in the same season for a similar infraction of the rules.

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