Yorkshire were yesterday replaced by Glamorgan in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup after failing fully to overturn their punishment at an appeal in Taunton. The White Rose county were effectively thrown out of the tournament after fielding the ineligible teenager Azeem Rafiq in a North Division game against Nottinghamshire last month.
Yorkshire then appealed after arguing that their punishment was "manifestly disproportionate" to their offence and, although the nine-wicket victory at Trent Bridge now stands, they have been deducted two points.
The original decision awarded the points to Nottinghamshire, but the alteration means Glamorgan will now progress as one of the best third-placed teams. "We've got what we deserved," Glamorgan chairman Paul Russell said.
Glamorgan and Yorkshire both finished on 10 points, but the Welsh county's superior net run rate means they play Durham at Chester-le-Street in a yet-to-be-scheduled last-eight tie. Rafiq, 17, had not been registered as a first-teamer with the ECB by Yorkshire, and it then emerged that, despite captaining England Under-15s, he did not hold a British passport.
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