Mitchell Claydon handed nine-match ban by Cricket Discipline Commission Panel

The Sussex seamer has been handed the suspension after admitting to a charge relating to altering the condition of the ball during his side's Bob Willis Trophy match against Middlesex in August

Sussex seamer Mitchell Claydon has been handed a nine-match ban after admitting to a charge relating to altering the condition of the ball during his side’s Bob Willis Trophy match against Middlesex in August.

Following an ECB investigation, Claydon was charged with a breach of ECB Directives 3.3 and 3.7 which state:

• 3.3 No Participant may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which is improper or which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any cricketer or group of cricketers into disrepute.
• 3.7 Contravention of the Bob Willis Trophy Playing Conditions 5 or 41.2 … shall be regarded as (i) unfair and improper conduct; and (ii) conduct prejudicial to the interests of cricket and likely to bring the game into disrepute.

The sanction takes into account a six-match playing suspension which Sussex had already imposed on Claydon - a ban the player has already served. The remainder of the 37-year-old’s suspension will therefore be spread across all formats and included Thursday’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Lancashire.

The ECB is due to publish the full Cricket Discipline Commission decision in due course.

Sussex have also been charged with a breach of ECB Directives 3.3 and 3.7. A CDC Disciplinary Hearing Panel will hear this case in due course.

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