Lancashire County Cricket Club has voiced strong dissatisfaction over the procedures used to test bats for illegal dimensions, after their player Phil Salt was eventually cleared of any misconduct in the recent T20 Blast clash against Northamptonshire.
Salt, who struck an impressive 80 off 57 deliveries in Lancashire’s five-wicket win, was accused of violating ECB Directives 3.2 and 3.3 when his bat failed an initial on-field gauge test conducted by umpires Rob Bailey and Simon Widdup.
Post-Match Tests Deemed Inconclusive
After the match, further testing was performed. Though the bat was able to pass through the gauge multiple times, the results were not definitive. The Cricket Regulator later issued a statement confirming no disciplinary measures would be pursued against Salt.
Lancashire expressed frustration at how the episode was handled, emphasizing that Salt had been using the same bat consistently across competitions without any prior concerns.
“𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑷𝑳 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆,” 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
The club added that the situation generated unnecessary speculation and negativity.
Club Calls for Improved Processes
Lancashire said the controversy could have been prevented if better procedures and training were in place to assess bat legality accurately.
“𝑨𝒕 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
They also condemned the resulting media reports and social media backlash:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅.”
Previous Bat Controversies
The scrutiny over bat testing intensified last year when Essex’s Feroz Khushi was found using an oversized bat in a County Championship match against Nottinghamshire. The incident led to Essex being docked 12 points, which essentially ended their title challenge.
In its statement, the Cricket Regulator confirmed the match officials had acted properly under the regulations and acknowledged Lancashire and Salt’s cooperation during the investigation.
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