Bankfoot, who are celebrating their 150th anniversary, have been thrown out of the JCT600 Bradford League’s Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup for fielding an ineligible player.

The Odsal club included overseas player Ankit Rawat for their third-round victory over Bradford & Bingley on Sunday, June 16 but he did not fulfil the criteria of having played a league match prior to the second round to be eligible for that round or subsequent rounds.

Bankfoot, who defeated the Wagon Laners by six wickets to reach the semi-finals, claim they had verbal permission from David Young, the league’s chief executive officer, to play Rawat.

The Division Two club, who have been replaced in the draw by Bradford & Bingley, made their case for staying in the competition to members of the league’s management board at Woodlands on Sunday, June 23, but the decision to throw them out was made by the full board the following Tuesday at Pudsey St Lawrence.

Bankfoot, in a press release, state: “Bankfoot CC acted on advice received from the chief executive of the Bradford Cricket League i.e. that the player was eligible to play in the third round of the Priestley Cup.

“The management team of the league present at the meeting accepted the facts as presented by Bankfoot CC, and the announcement on the Bradford Cricket League website is disappointingly silent on this matter.

“Having acted in good faith and having taken advice directly from a senior executive within the Bradford League, the committee of Bankfoot CC believe that the decision made by the management board of the Bradford Cricket League is wrong and that the absence of information provided to explain the actions of Bankfoot CC results in the reputation of Bankfoot CC and it’s representatives being unjustly damaged.”

The statement continued: “Bankfoot believe that they have not acted outside of the rules of the cup competition.

“The chairman of Bankfoot CC (Richard Peel), having read the player-qualification rule and having previously suffered under this rule, contacted the chief executive officer of the Bradford League (David Young) to clarify the rule and the eligibility of the overseas player to participate in round three of the competition.

“This conversation took place on Monday, May 20 at 6.33pm.

“The advice received from Mr Young was that the player was eligible if he played a league match prior to the round.

“As a consequence of receiving this advice, Bankfoot CC completed the signing of the overseas player and the player concerned arrived in time to play in the league match on Saturday, June 15.

“The overseas player then played in the third-round Priestley Cup tie on Sunday, June 16, and the committee of Bankfoot CC believed this to be in full compliance with the player-eligibility criteria as confirmed by Mr Young on behalf of the Bradford League.

“In light of the above, the committee of Bankfoot CC are adamant that they have acted responsibly and in good faith throughout and within both the spirit and laws of the game.

“The decision to play the player in the third-round match had been widely reported in the press prior to the game, as had the circumstances relating to the late arrival of the player. This is clear evidence that Bankfoot believed that the player was eligible for the game.

“In this case we believe that the appropriate action is to confirm that Bankfoot CC have won the tie against Bradford and Bingley and therefore progress to the semi-final to be played on July 14 at Hanging Heaton.”

The Bradford League responded on their website: “Having carefully considered all of the available evidence, including submissions made by Bankfoot officials, the management board have ruled that the player, Ankit Rawat, was not eligible to play in the Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup.

“The competition rules clearly state that ALL players must have played at least one league game prior to the second round to be eligible for that and subsequent rounds.

“Ankit Rawat was only registered by Bankfoot on Thursday, June 13 and played his first league game against Idle on June 15. The following day he was included in their side for the third-round tie against Bradford & Bingley.

“To maintain the integrity of the competition, the rule has to be enforced in all situations.

“In line with other breaches of this rule, the result of the tie is declared null and void. Bradford & Bingley will now go forward to play at Hanging Heaton in the semi-finals.”

Young said: “I had a lot of calls about eligibility of players, and cannot honestly remember whether Richard was referring to the league or the cup when he rang me, but even so the relevant Priestley Cup rule is one of the clearest in the book.

“The only exemptions to this rule are for juniors, full-time students or players who have been injured.”

There have been a number of cases in recent seasons where the management board have rejected requests for exemptions for overseas players who have arrived after the date of the second round.