KENT’S club skipper Matthew Fleming believes that he and his fellow captains should take the lead over cricket discipline. Under the new proposals, drawn up from a working party report by former Test umpire John Holder, players would be suspended after reaching eight points in a totting up procedure, with each point costing a £100 fine.

The captain and the offending player’s side would also be docked half a point, but without monetary loss. Breaking the laws of the game, dangerous and unfair bowling, spurious appeals and outward dissent by word or action would attract a two-point penalty, while deliberate distraction of the batsman or intimidating umpires would cost four points.

Physical abuse of players, umpires or spectators would lead to an £800 fine and suspension, with all penalties to be made public by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Fleming said: “If the captain does his job properly all this will be made irrelevant. Almost everything comes back to the captain and I can’t think of any occasion last year when Kent might have been hauled over the coals. Consistency is the only problem I would perceive, but as long as there are good levels of communication between players and umpires things ought to be sorted out before it comes to docking points.

“It’s sad that it’s got this far because really this is what we should all be doing any way.”

Chairman of the Umpires’ Association Allan Jones said: “This is a clear message to the players and counties.”