LONDON, May 10: England Test cricketer Andrew Caddick has become the first player to be officially penalised under the England and Wales Cricket Board’s new discipline code.

New Zealand-born Caddick was reported for a Level One breach of the new code for disputing an umpiring decision during Somerset’s County Championship match against Yorkshire.

A Level One breach is the least serious of four possible grades of transgression.

He was reported by umpires David Constant and Roy Palmer for “showing dissent at the umpire’s decision by word or action” under the new system which was introduced at the start of this season.

The penalty remains in force for 12 months, during which time any further Level One breach will result in an automatic imposition of three penalty points.

That would put Caddick at the bottom of an escalating scale on which 12 penalty points in any 12-month period renders a player liable to a suspension.—PPI