Passport oversight leaves ECB red in the face

London, July 8 : Controversy reigned after the England and Wales Cricket Board called off the English Twenty20 Cup quarter-final match between Durham and Yorkshire over an ineligible player. The ECB acted after determining that Yorkshire had failed to register Azeem Rafiq as a first-class player for an earlier group match against Nottinghamshire.

Interestingly, Rafiq, 17, has captained England Under-15s — but there are question marks regarding his British nationality. Yorkshire’s director of Cricket Martyn Moxon suggested the ECB knew of the issue within days of their June 27 match against Notts, when the mix-up occurred.

“I can only apologise to everybody concerned — the players from both teams are absolutely devastated with what’s happened today,” Moxon told the BBC. Rafiq is understood to have been eligible to play for Yorkshire at every level below the first team — but he bowled two overs against Notts.

The ECB’s disciplinary commission will meet on Thursday to determine what action should be taken against Yorkshire. Chief executive David Collier insisted that the ECB could not have taken any other course of action other than postpone the match.

“I don’t think we could have done any more than what we’ve been doing today,” he told Sky Sports 1 television.

“It has been a mad rush. The worst would have been to just ignore it and act as though nothing had happened and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that the game may well have to be replayed.”

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