County Championship: Leicestershire appeal 27-point deduction for poor pitch blamed on Bollywood film shoot

Leicestershire County Cricket Club have confirmed they are appealing the 27-point deduction and £5,000 fine for breaching pitch regulations in August's win over Glamorgan.

Leicestershire's groundsman Callum Lewin had argued filming of an unscheduled Bollywood film - believed to be for a biopic of former India captain Sourav Ganguly - had taken place at the ground four days before the Glamorgan fixture, preventing the pitch from being covered for eight hours in bright sunshine.

This was dismissed by the panel as a mitigating factor as it was only one day.

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"The club respects the Cricket Discipline Panel process, which is ongoing. However, we have serious concerns about the process that resulted in the Panel's decision on the charge and the sanctioning procedure," said Leicestershire chief executive Emma White.

"I can confirm that the club will be appealing."

The independent Cricket Discipline Panel (CDP) upheld the Cricket Regulator's charge against Leicestershire for breaching the ECB Pitch Regulations, with the pitch at Uptonsteel Grace Road rated as 'poor' during the County Championship match against Glamorgan, between August 20-23.

Leicestershire won the low-scoring match by 42 runs and the pitch was inspected immediately after.

The statement added that Leicestershire have instructed sports law barrister Craig Harris of Furnival Chambers to advise and represent the club.

"The Panel itself found that the club did not intend the pitch to play as it did and that this was not a case of cheating. Our grounds team has an outstanding record, and I am proud of the work they do," White added.

"As we intend to appeal, it would not be appropriate for the club to comment further at this stage. I would ask all supporters to do the same, and to treat everyone involved, including players and staff from other counties, and those involved with administering this process, with courtesy and respect, both at the ground and online."

In a full written judgment, match referee Ian Ramage logged 43 examples of uneven bounce in the match. The pitch had an unusual look, with a green middle (16mm of grass) to help seamers and bare ends (just 3mm) to help spinners. Other pitches at Grace Road this year have had a similar look and played differently.

The Regulator acknowledged Leicestershire would not have deliberately created a pitch to bounce so unevenly but stated "each of these factors presented foreseeable risks that should have informed part of the planning and preparation process".

In conclusion, the tribunal found that, while Leicestershire did not intend for the pitch to play unevenly, their approach to preparing it was unreasonable.

"Accordingly, and for these reasons, LCCC have failed to discharge the burden upon them under Regulation 7.6 that it "sought, acting reasonably, to prepare the best quality pitch that it could for the match that was being staged."

Leicestershire recently kept their Division One survival hopes alive with a five-wicket win over Hampshire.