Kent's Robert Key during their FLt20 game at the County Ground, Chelmsford, Essex, 20th June 2012.

Scorers take eye off the ball in Twenty20 clash

Essex will escape without even a slapped wrist after the scoring fiasco that cost Kent two potentially crucial runs during their Twenty20 clash at Chelmsford.

The derby was poised for a thrilling final over, but confusion over the correct score meant that when Mark Davies faced the final ball from Graham Napier the scoreboard said Kent needed four to win – when two would have been enough and a single would have clinched a tie.

Davies tried to smash the final ball to the boundary but was bowled, meaning Kent lost by three runs.

A spokesman for Essex confirmed an error had been made.

“At the end of the 19th over the umpire penalised Essex six runs for a slow over rate,” he admitted. “At 19.2 overs the incorrect score was still on the scoreboard as the scorer didn’t see the signal. While this penalty was being sorted out Matt Coles scored two runs, but this was not seen by the scorer, who was told it was a dot ball.

“Their (Kent’s) interpretation of it was that this would have meant the batsman would have played a different shot.”

Neither county reported the incident in their match reports, but radio commentators did pick up on it and one source confirmed there had been a significant amount of bad feeling after the game.

The county have not made a formal complaint – contrary to a suggestion from Sky’s Nasser Hussain during commentary on Kent’s defeat to Middlesex on Tuesday night.

“We and Essex both had scorers at the match,” a Kent spokesman said. “There was a mistake, but we are keen to move on from the situation. We will not be making any further comment.”

While the laws of cricket make no specific reference to penalties for incorrect scoring, saying only that two scorers should be present and that they should regularly consult each other, under the England & Wales Code of Conduct and Spirit of Cricket there is provision for disciplinary action.

If the umpires consider any action to be “unfair” the offending club can be fined and docked points.

Adrian Phillips of the ECB said: “This game and matter was investigated by the ECB and has now been closed. The game’s result stands.”