Cricket: Maximum penalty for Northants

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE have been docked 25 Championship points for preparing an unfit pitch against Sussex after they won by 136 runs yesterday.

The England and Wales Cricket Board's panel, led by the former England captain Mike Denness, decided that the strip was unfit and have imposed the maximum penalty.

A new inquiry by the Pakistan government into match-fixing accusations may delay action against Wasim Akram, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed. The leaked interim report of a Pakistan Cricket Board committee inquiry appeared to implicate the trio, but may be superseded by a separate commission appointed last month to investigate bribery.

Justice Malik Mohammad Qayoom, of the Lahore High Court, was appointed in August to conduct a new inquiry even as the board's panel was completing their report. Qayoom is expected to submit his findings by 10 October, midway through Australia's tour of Pakistan which begins later this month.