ECB denies interfering in Craig Overton disciplinary case
Friday 11 December 2015 13:11, UK
The England and Wales Cricket Board has denied any suggestion that it interfered in a disciplinary case involving Somerset and England Lions seamer Craig Overton.
Overton has been sanctioned for verbally abusing Sussex's Pakistan-born Ashar Zaidi.
It emerged on Thursday that Overton has been handed a two-game ban after being found guilty of a level-one breach - the lowest of four ECB directives - for comments he made during a County Championship match at Hove in September.
The verdict was handed down by the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) - an independent arm of the ECB - after hearing statements from umpires and players in the match.
An ECB spokesman said that it remains content with the CDC's handling of the case and Overton, who denied making the comment, was subsequently selected for this winter's England Performance Programme.
Overton's availability for that squad - a group of young players identified as having potential to play for England - did not affect the CDC's decision, according to the ECB.
"The Cricket Discipline Commission is an independent body which operates at arm's length from the ECB," the ECB spokesman said.
"Craig Overton's selection for the EPP squad would have played no part whatsoever in the CDC's ruling in this matter. The ECB refutes any suggestion of interference or bias in the proper disciplinary process."
Overton's sanction came just a year after Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale was banned following an abusive on-field confrontation with Lancashire's Ashwell Prince.
Gale was suspended for four games and prevented from lifting the County Championship trophy in 2014 after he verbally abused the former South African batsman.
On that occasion an ECB complaint to the CDC about Gale's behaviour saw the ban extended, after an initial two-match sanction.
