A farce at Riverside as Twenty20 clash is off (From The Northern Echo)

A farce at Riverside as Twenty20 clash is off

5:05am Tuesday 8th July 2008 in

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DURHAM'S quarter-final clash with Yorkshire at Riverside last night descended into farce as the game was postponed eight minutes after it was due to start.

The county's chief executive David Harker labelled the eleventh hour decision as "amateurish" with thousands of fans from both counties in the ground more concerned if the weather would curtail the game rather than a decision taken 280 miles south of Chester-le-Street in an office at Lord's.

The England and Wales Cricket Board acted following allegations received Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player in their final group game against Nottinghamshire - a match that took place ten days before last night's planned clash.

Seventeen-year-old Azeem Rafiq bowled two overs for 18 runs at Trent Bridge, but the ramifications of that spell could put this season's Twenty20 finals day at the Rose Bowl on July 26 under threat.

Durham must wait and see who they play in their quarter-final at Chester-le-Street with a provisional date of July 20 pencilled in for the rearranged game.

It is likely to be against Nottinghamshire, but Yorkshire could yet mount a legal challenge if they are thrown out of the competition by a disciplinary panel expected to be convened by the ECB on Thursday.

And Glamorgan could mount a challenge of their own as they would have qualified for the last eight if Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire had tied their game.

With a potential place at the £2.5m Twenty20 Champions League in Dubai in October for the winner and runners-up of this season's competition at stake, Yorkshire will no doubt leave no stone unturned in their fight to stay in the competition.

"The cost of this is the reputation to cricket and this competition. We've looked like amateurs," said Harker.

"There would have been at least six to seven thousand in here tonight. If the weather had been anything like it should, it might have been closer to 10,000.

"My view is we should have played a quarter-final tonight. Yorkshire admitted an offence and therefore some sort of sanction should have been put in place, what that should be I don't know because we don't know the full facts of the story.

"Whether they should be disqualified, fined or not I really don't know.

"Clearly it's a pretty sorry state of affairs to turn up at a quarter-final of a major competition which has significant ramifications for those who go through, to be told, 'Hmm, we're going to have to sit down and think about where we go next.'

"It was too late in the day. This game happened a week on Friday. I think if shortly after that game it was clear there had been an error then we had time to do something about it.''

He added: "We weren't able to tell people what was going on because we didn't know the situation. We then asked people in our media van to turn the music off so we could make an announcement.

"David Collier (chief executive of the ECB) said he'd been speaking to one or two people down there and that clearly the game couldn't go ahead as a bone fide quarter-final

"If, for example, Yorkshire are required to replay against Nottingham and that game ends in a tie I think Glamorgan go through with the most points. Who knows what will happen but there are consequences for the other teams involved in the competition.

"There's so much at stake that Nottingham and Glamorgan probably aren't going to take the attitude of, Never mind lads, we all make mistakes'."

Collier defended the ECB's actions saying the matter only came to light when officials spotted the error early yesterday morning.

The investigation may have been sparked by comments made by Yorkshire skipper Darren Gough, who said prior to what will now no doubt be the infamous game against Nottinghamshire he didn't know the name of one of his spinners, "but he is a Barnsley lad," before repeating his unfamiliarity with Rafiq on his Radio Five Live show.

"I don't think we could have done any more than what we've been doing today," insisted Collier.

"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.

"We were aware of the situation this morning and immediately spoke to all the correct people. "Clearly, it's not ideal when these sort of situations occur on the day of such a major match.

"There was no registration of the player right from the outset - that was the key problem. The problem then was that the player is not qualified as an English cricketer, so if Yorkshire had applied for registration, they would have had to deregister (Pakistani allrounder) Rana Naved to be able to play Azeem Rafiq in the game against Nottinghamshire.

"There were several severe complications in this case, but the bottom line is the player was not registered to play in first-class cricket." He added: "Clearly there is a precedent from a Worcestershire-Gloucestershire game where a match was replayed, but the panel has wide-ranging powers and that can lead into all sorts of areas - whether that be fines, disqualification, replaying the match, it is up to the panel to determine."

The player in question, Rafiq, has captained England Under-15s, Under- 16s and played for England U-17s.

Yorkshire had already been fined £500 for fielding him in the Nottinghamshire game but last night they feared the punishment for the player would be far greater as the allegation was now he was an unqualified cricketer.

He arrived in Barnsley in 2001 but does not hold a British passport. Yorkshire believed his appearances for England up to Under-17 level meant he was a qualified player.

* Tickets for last night's game will be valid for any rearranged quarter-final tie at Riverside. For information on refunds contact the box office on 0844 4994466.

The Yorkshire CCC statement in full

"The club have learnt this afternoon that this evening's quarter-final between Yorkshire Carnegie and Durham Dynamos has been postponed following allegations raised with the ECB that the club fielded an unqualified player in their group match against Nottingham Outlaws on Friday, June 27, 2008. "The club has spent the last 24 hours trying to piece together the facts and supplying the ECB with details about the player. "The player in question is Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old spin bowler from Barnsley who was selected at short notice for the match against Nottinghamshire when it became clear that Michael Vaughan was not available and neither was the left-arm spinner David Wainwright, due to injury. "The player has only just turned 17 and signed scholarship terms with the club in September 2006. "He has captained England at both Under-15 and Under-16 level and also played in the England Under-17 team. "He signed an academy contract with the Yorkshire in 2007, which has been notified to the ECB. It has come to light that whilst the player has lived in Yorkshire since coming to this country from Pakistan in 2001 he still does not hold a British passport. "Whilst he has a permit allowing him to live and work in this game permanently indefinitely his status in the first team brings him under ICC regulations. "As such whilst his permit is acceptable at schoolboy level it does not allow him to be registered as a qualified player under ECB Regulations and Playing Conditions 2008 and play in the first team. "The club are deeply disappointed by this decision on the basis that he had previously represented England at schoolboy level it had been assumed that he would be qualified to play cricket in this country. "The club understands that Yorkshire is now due to face a disciplinary panel at which it will find out what action the ECB plan to take."