Glamorgan penalised for poor pitch

Glamorgan will begin next year's Royal London Cup competition with a two-point deduction after the pitch at Cardiff for Friday's match against Durham was rated 'poor' by the ECB. Glamorgan lost the match after being bowled out for 133 chasing Durham's 185.

The ECB's pitch panel upheld the umpires' initial assessment that the pitch was below the required standard. Hugh Morris, the Glamorgan chief executive, said the pitch had been newly laid as part of efforts to produce surfaces with greater life in them at the Swalec Stadium.

"Whilst we accept the verdict, the Pitch Panel's review confirmed that there was nothing to indicate in advance that the pitch would behave as it did," Morris said.

"There is no suggestion of an intention to produce a favourable playing surface for the home side. Indeed there was no way our groundstaff could have predicted the resulting outcome.

"In 2011, the club began a pitch improvement programme with two new pitches being relaid each winter from 2011 to 2014. This investment was taken after years of umpire reports that the wickets were often low and slow in Cardiff. The feedback we have received from the ECB, umpire reports and visiting teams, both domestic and international, for the newly laid surfaces has been positive, including during last year's ICC Champions Trophy."