Kirby handed suspended sentence (From Stroud News and Journal)

Kirby handed suspended sentence

GLOUCESTERSHIRE star Steve Kirby has been found guilty of ball tampering by the England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary panel, but escaped with a suspended sentence.

The fast bowler, who was signed from Yorkshire during the winter, was given a three-day ban from all cricket at the hearing in Bristol last week, though the sentence is suspended until the end of the season providing Kirby commits no further offences.

The tampering incident occurred during a Frizzell County Championship match at Glamorgan last month, when Kirby retrieved a six hit by opposition batsman David Hemp from behind the pavilion.

Umpires John Hampshire and Nigel Cowley examined the ball immediately on its return to play, and it was later alleged by officials that Kirby had deliberately rubbed the ball against concrete and tarmac while it was off the field.

The ECB disciplinary hearing was held at Bristol and was ruled over by a three-man panel of David Gabbitass, Alan Wadey and Tim Munton, whose role was to consider the two separate allegations facing Kirby - that he had deliberately and knowingly tampered with the ball during the match.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the panel found that both charges proved and imposed a penalty of three days suspension from all cricket under the jurisdiction of ECB.

The sentence is to be suspended until September 30, though Kirby was ordered to pay £125 towards the costs of the hearing.

Gloucestershire chief executive Tom Richardson released a statement immediately after the hearing, and said: "Further to the ECB statement and Steve Kirby's statement concerning breaches of law 42.3(b), we note that the penalty imposed on Steve Kirby is at the bottom end of the scale.

"We are a team that always takes pride in playing within the rules, we are glad that a line has now been drawn under this affair and we now wish to move on."