SOMERSET have avoided a points deduction after the pitch used for the season finale against Middlesex remained marked as 'below average' following an ECB inspection.
Senior Cricket Liaison Officer (CLO) Phil Whitticase visited the Cooper Associates County Ground on Friday after match CLO Wayne Noon had ranked the pitch 'below average' following concerns about excessive spin.
Middlesex officials were far from pleased with the surface, with managing director of cricket Angus Fraser describing Somerset as 'a disgrace' and captain Adam Voges pondering whether the club had 'pushed the rules too far'.
READ MORE: Fraser blasts Somerset pitch as 'dreadful' and brands hosts 'a disgrace'
Somerset remained confident the wicket would avoid censure, a confidence that has turned out to be justified in light of the ECB report.
"SCCC welcomes this news as the Club prepares for its 11th consecutive season in the top division of the @CountyChamp"#WeAreSomerset https://t.co/WpF5IxItbB
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) October 2, 2017
The ranking is not enough for Somerset to lose any points this season, but another one in 2018 would cause repercussions as clubs are not permitted to produce two 'below average' pitches within 12 months.
Somerset's survival is not yet sealed, however, as the result of Middlesex's request for an ECB hearing regarding their two-point deduction for slow over rate against Surrey remains pending.
The London outfit insist they would have made up the time later in the match had it not been abandoned due to an arrow being fired on to the outfield at The Oval.
Middlesex were batting at the time of the incident, with a lead of 161 runs and the match in its final session.
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