Durham penalised for Nic's big bat amid final-day drama

Australian Nic Maddinson's use of an oversized bat has cost his English side Durham a 10-point deduction on a dramatic final day of the County Championship.

Maddinson, who has played three Tests and six T20s for Australia, used a bat which failed a bat-gauge test in Durham's Division Two match against Derbyshire earlier this month.

Batting No.4 at Derby, in Durham's first innings, Maddinson had scored just one run when eagle-eyed umpire Hassan Adnan stopped play because he was concerned the bat's measurements exceeded regulations.

Those suspicions proved well founded because the bat would not pass through a gauge in an on-field test. Maddinson had to continue with a different bat and was dropped before being dismissed for eight runs.

The Cricket Discipline Commission considered that there was no intent by Maddinson to gain an unfair advantage but added the issue had to be dealt with on a "strict liability basis", with the onus on players to make sure the equipment they use conforms to the laws of the game.

A 10-point penalty was therefore imposed on Thursday, with no further sanction.

Durham began the last round of championship matches knowing they could not achieve promotion and their season ended on Thursday afternoon with a 462-run defeat against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Maddinson, who also plays for Victoria, and Melbourne Renegades in the KFC BBL, made 40 and 13 in his two innings in the match.

This week's victory for Nottinghamshire meanwhile clinched their spot in Division One for next year, while Warwickshire, last year's champions, made an astonishing escape to remain in the top flight and to see Yorkshire go down.

Yorkshire's defeat by already-relegated Gloucestershire, at Headingley on Wednesday, had given the Bears a glimmer of hope of securing the win against Hampshire they needed to keep them up.

They seldom looked like achieving it, though, as they collapsed to 177 all out on Thursday morning, setting Hampshire a victory target of just 139 to secure runners-up spot.

But Liam Norwell, returning at the end of an injury-ravaged season, bowled magnificently in several spells from the Pavilion End at Edgbaston to keep Warwickshire in contention.

Norwell's career-best 9 wickets for 62 runs sealed a five-run win and relegated Yorkshire – the county of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow – to the second tier.

At one stage Hampshire slumped to 7-91, but a resolute knock of 46 by Nick Gubbins took them to within 15 runs of victory with three wickets in hand.

However, the tireless Norwell had the final word, trapping Gubbins lbw, ripping out James Fuller's middle stump and earning an lbw decision against Mohammed Abbas to seal a dramatic victory.

Yorkshire joined Gloucestershire in being relegated from the 10-team top division, while Hampshire missed out on second place by a point. Lancashire finished second, behind champions Surrey.

Nottinghamshire were promoted to Division One as champions. They will be joined by Middlesex, who finished nine points clear of third placed Glamorgan.

Nottinghamshire needed just over two hours at Trent Bridge to take the seven Durham wickets they needed to be crowned Division Two champions.

England seamer Stuart Broad, in his first appearance for his county since May, finished with 3 for 36, left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White took 3 for 41 and South African seamer Dane Paterson claimed 2 for 27.

Middlesex's promotion was confirmed after rain washed out the final day of their clash with Worcestershire at New Road.

They had effectively made sure of finishing in the top two after accruing a maximum haul of five batting points on the third day.