Yorkshire's Twenty20 Appeal Slung Out

Yorkshire have failed in their bid to be readmitted to this season's Twenty20 Cup, after the ECB upheld their decision to expel the county from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in a group match against Nottinghamshire.

The ECB's Disciplinary Commission Appeals Panel rejected Yorkshire's claims that the original punishment they received for playing Pakistan-born 17-year-old Azeem Rafiq - an ineligible player under the rules - was 'manifestly disproportionate' and docked them the two points they received against Nottinghamshire.

The decision means that Glamorgan, who finished third in their group, have now qualified to play Durham in a rearranged quarter-final.

A statement released by the appeals panel said: "Yorkshire claim that the failure to register Azeem Rafiq was the result of a technical oversight, that discretion should be exercised under regulation 2.1 and that the penalties imposed were 'manifestly disproportionate'.

"The facts were not in dispute and the panel accept that Yorkshire did not deliberately flout the registration regulations.

"The club was aware in 2007 that there were questions as to the player's immigration status, that they failed properly to check the eligibility for registration, then or thereafter.

"They still had not done so when they submitted their list of registered players to ECB in April 2008. An application for registration, if made, would have immediately flagged up the problems.

"The player not being qualified to play for England needs the consent of the ECB Board before he can be registered."

Yorkshire were also required to pay £2,000 in total towards the costs of both hearings.