Sussex bowler Jack Carson, one of four players, is suspended for attempting to bowl a batsman

Jack Carson sticks out his leg and nearly knocks out Leicestershire batsman Ben Cox

Sussex's hopes of promotion to the First Division are suddenly ended after they were handed a 12-point penalty, resulting in four players, including captain Cheteshwar Pujara, being suspended for this week's match against Derbyshire.

Sussex received two fixed penalties from the match referee in the difficult win. last week over Leicestershire, which took them to four penalties for the season, resulting in an automatic 12-point deduction from the England and Wales Cricket Board and a one-match ban for Pujara, who captained on all four occasions.

In addition, Sussex suspended two of their best young players, England Lions Tom Haynes and Jack Carson, after match referee Wayne Noon found them guilty. The club's leading wicket-taker, Ari Karvelas, was also unavailable by the club «until an investigation into the incident during the Leicestershire game is completed.»

The ECB has confirmed that they are investigating. investigation into Karvelas' conduct, but did not draw attention to the nature of the allegations.

The cricketer said the investigation was being conducted into alleged racist or discriminatory remarks directed at Pakistani Leicestershire batsman Umar Amin. Karvelas is alleged to have said «send him back to the village he came from» after dismissing Amin for 94 in the second innings.

Karvelas is said to have claimed to have used the word «village» in the context of village cricket — as a derogatory remark about the standards of the game rather than the player's background.

Haynes committed a Level 1 violation for the second time this season, but Carson committed a more serious Level 2 violation. He was charged with «inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with another player», which is believed to relate to a discreet attempt to bring down Leicestershire batsman Ben Cox as he tried to escape during their chase of 499.

Both Haynes and Carson apologized for their behavior.

«In the heat of battle during the previous match against Leicestershire, my desperation to compete and ultimately win the game led me to cross the line into what is considered acceptable in the spirit of cricket,» Carson said.

< p> “I would like to apologize to my team-mates and to all Sussex fans for my actions during the game.

“I plan to learn from this experience and conduct myself correctly while still maintaining my rage. determination to participate in all matches representing the club.”

Haynes added: “In light of the recent game against Leicestershire, I would like to apologize to all Sussex fans for crossing the line in terms of on-field discipline.

“It came out of pure passion. compete and help the team win the game. This is something I will learn and use better in future games for Sussex.”

Sussex appealed loudly throughout the chase and umpires Paul Baldwin and Ben Debenham spoke to Pujara several times, but he was unable to improve the behavior of his players.

Earlier in the season, Pujara made a mistake himself. A level one offense for «deliberately mistreating any part of the cricket field, equipment or fixtures used in a match» in the game against Durham.

As a result of the suspension, Sussex went to the Derby with a very inexperienced team and their hopes of promotion ended. They should have entered the final two rounds 18 points behind Worcestershire and with a more favorable fixture list. But they have now dropped from third to fifth.

“We have made Jack and Tom unavailable for selection for this Derbyshire game,” head coach Paul Farbrace said. “Following the decision of the match officials and referee to charge both players with level one and level two offenses on the field, we needed to take a stand and show them that we will not tolerate such behavior.

“Ultimately it happened. we lost 12 points.

“It’s a shame that these incidents have tarnished a fantastic game against Leicestershire and all the hard work that went into preparing it. season.

“I am disappointed with our fantastic members and fans and can assure them that we will work hard to ensure we do not find ourselves in this position again.”

Sussex were left without a team. Ollie Robinson, who is nursing a finger injury and has not played since the third Ashes Test 10 weeks ago. However, the good news for the club is that the seamer has signed a new one-year contract with Hove.