Shropshire deducted 24 points for fielding ineligible player as club on brink of first title for 43 years
Shropshire have been deducted 24 points by the Minor Counties Cricket Association after inadvertently fielding an ineligible player in their last match against Cheshire.
Shropshire, who were top of the table and on the brink of their first title for 43 years, have been informed by the MCCA that former Derbyshire player Scott Elstone - as a cricketer previously registered with a first class county - had not been registered by Shropshire for the required 14-day period necessary to feature in the fifth or sixth rounds of the Unicorns Championship.
Shropshire must now forfeit the 24 points earned from the Cheshire fixture, a match they had won by 70 runs.
Shropshire chairman Toby Shaw said: "This is a highly unfortunate situation that no-one could have envisaged. As a committee, we are devastated for the players and our supporters.
"We always pride ourselves on being as professional as we can be in everything that we do, so this has come as a huge shock to us. It was a genuine oversight.
"Everyone connected with the club is very disappointed, but there has been much to be encouraged about our level of performance this season and we must now look to the future."
Shropshire complete their Western Division season with a three-day match against Wiltshire, starting at Devizes on Sunday.
