BERKSHIRE’S poor discipline in their match against Oxfordshire helped Devon leapfrog them to win the Western Division title on Monday.

Devon hammered Berks by ten wickets in their final match at Sidmouth, but the visitors were missing three players suspended following the previous clash at Banbury.

Skipper Bjorn Mordt, Steve Naylor and Carl Crowe, who all play for Henley, received bans for what Berkshire described as “lapses in discipline”.

The MCCA took swift action after reading reports from the match umpires, Paul Joy and Chris Jones.

Mordt was found guilty of not controlling his players and also showing dissent at the umpires’ decisions, while Crowe and Naylor showed unjustified and unacceptable behaviour towards opponents.

Naylor was also guilty of using foul language and, with two Level 2 charges against him in the same match, he received a further two-match ban.

A Berkshire statement added that the lack of discipline in the squad had “rocked” the management.

However, the three suspended players will all be able to play in the MCCA Trophy final against Hertfordshire at Lord’s tomorrow.