Yorkshire CCC signing Nicholas Pooran banned

Pooran was caught on camera using his thumb to scrape the ball and seam during West Indies’ one-day international against Afghanistan in Lucknow on Monday.

He has been banned for the West Indies’ next four T20 internationals, comprising a three-match series against the same opponents, starting tomorrow, followed by the first of three fixtures in India.

The 24-year-old, who will play for Yorkshire next year in the T20 Blast, is available to return for the second T20 against India on December 8.

Pooran, who was charged under the International Cricket Council code relating to “changing the condition of the ball”, said in a statement: “I want to issue a sincere apology to my team-mates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow.

“I recognise that I made an extreme error in judgement and I fully accept the ICC penalty. I want to assure everyone that this is an isolated incident and it will not be repeated.

“I promise to learn from this and come back stronger and wiser.”

Pooran, who was also hit with five demerit points, is expected to be available for most of Yorkshire’s 14-match T20 group campaign.

The hard-hitting batsman/wicketkeeper played three T20 games for the club last season , scoring 122 runs at an average of 40.

Yorkshire all-rounder Jordan Thompson has signed a new deal that will keep him at the club until the end of 2021.

The 23-year-old was a regular in the T20 side last season and also made two County Championship appearances.

“I’m hoping to play more first team games and cement my place,” he said. “I’ve debuted in each format over the last few years, so I know what it’s all about. It’s now about performing consistently for the first team.”

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “Jordan showed huge potential when he played in both the County Championship games and T20s, so hopefully he will continue to progress and become a regular in all formats over the next couple of years.”

Yorkshire’s Katherine Brunt and Lauren Winfield have been named in the England women’s squad that will face Pakistan in Malaysia next month in three ODIs and three T20s.