Sussex have been docked 24 points after one of their bowlers used hand sanitiser to tamper with the ball.

Mitch Claydon was recently banned for nine games after the rule breach during a Bob Willis Trophy match away to Middlesex.

Punishment for his club has now followed.

County cricket resumed in August with strict hygiene protocols in place.

Matches were played behind closed doors and play was stopped at regular intervals for sanitation breaks.

Hand sanitiser was taken out on the field for the players but Claydon used it for more than was intended during Middlesex’s first innings at Radlett.

An ECB disciplinary report revealed: “As the video evidence plainly showed, and as MC (Claydon) admitted, he was deliberately using hand sanitiser for a completely different purpose, namely to seek to alter the condition of the ball in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage.

“OH (Oliver Harland, lawyer), on behalf of MC, has accepted without demur that this is a serious regulatory breach.

“As we have made plain in the decision pertaining to MC, ball tampering is cheating, and as cases in recent years have made plain, it is rightly treated very seriously by cricket’s disciplinary bodies.”

The report said Claydon initially denied the offence when asked by Sussex.

Once they realised he was guilty, they suspended him for six matches.

The retrospective 24-point penalty has no impact on the competition itself given Sussex were not in contention to reach the final.

Their actions in banning Claydon were reflected in there being no fine and the points deduction being at the low end of what can be handed out.

Claydon took 3-23 in the innings in question, two of his wickets coming after the breach.