ECB applauds Spirit of Cricket in Durham

The ECB is pleased to be able to report that in the Frizzell County Championship match at Riverside today, Durham Captain Jonathan Lewis acted within the Spirit of Cricket in exercising his discretion to allow Derbyshire CCC to change their side after it had been nominated to the umpires.

Derbyshire batsman Chris Bassano was taken unwell after the nomination of the teams before he had even had the chance to take to the field of play and it was subsequently established that Chris would not be able to play any part in the match. Under Law 1.2 Derbyshire were only entitled to a fielding substitute, with a fully participating substitute only permitted with the consent of the Durham Captain.

MCC's preamble to the Laws of Cricket entitled 'The Spirit of Cricket' and Laws 1.4 and 42.1 state that 'the captains are responsible at all times for ensuring that play is conducted within the Spirit of the Game as well as within the Laws'. In giving his consent for Steven Selwood to replace Chris Bassano in the Derbyshire line-up Jonathan Lewis provided a strong lead in upholding the spirit of the game.

It is hoped that Chris Bassano will be fully recovered within a week.