Sussex have been handed a suspended points penalty after five of their players were charged with showing dissent at umpiring decisions within a 12-month period.
Jack Carson, Ollie Robinson, Ravi Bopara, Delray Rawlins and Jofra Archer (playing for the club's 2nd XI) have all committed Level One offences under the ECB's disciplinary code since the start of last summer's Bob Willis Trophy.
A virtual hearing of the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) took place on Tuesday and imposed a suspended points penalty, which will result in a deduction of 12 points in the County Championship and/or two points in the Royal London Cup and/or two points in the T20 Blast if Sussex players incur a further two fixed-penalty breaches in any competition within the next 12 months.
Sussex admitted the charge and agreed with the CDC's panel that the penalty should be no greater than that imposed on Nottinghamshire last year, when five of their players committed offences during a five-week period in the T20 Blast.
The panel, chaired by Chris Tickle alongside Amrisha Parathalingam and Paul Joy, also noted that Sussex had taken "steps to address their problem", including a meeting held in March in which "players and coaches discussed dissent and other behavioural issues with the very experienced umpire Ian Gould".