SUSSEX have accepted the findings of the England and Wales Cricket Board into the controversial abandonment of their T20 game against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.

Luke Wright, the Sussex captain, believes his side should have been awarded both points after a downpour soaked the square before Hampshire's groundstaff got the covers on.

But the ECB released the following statement amid allegations of negligence: "The ECB has gathered information from all parties on the events that led to the abandonment of the Hampshire v Sussex NatWest T20 Blast match on Friday 17 June and confirms that there is no negligence from Hampshire Cricket.

"The Groundstaff did all that could reasonably be expected of them given the circumstances that prevailed."

Sussex released this response from their chief executive Zac Toumazi, a former commercial director at The Ageas Bowl.

We share the disappointment of Luke Wright, the team and our supporters around the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of the match between Hampshire and Sussex.

We remain well placed in the tournament but this unfortunate incident, following the weather preventing the previous match at Lord's, meant that we lost Chris Jordan to England and said farewell to David Wiese without them being able to help us try to win our last two fixtures.

We asked the ECB and Hampshire to consider the events leading to the abandonment at the Ageas Bowl. The ECB investigated the situation and were in contact with Hampshire and the match officials.

The ECB has advised us that they gathered information from all parties on the events that led to the abandonment of the match and confirmed that there was no negligence from Hampshire Cricket.

They consider that the Groundstaff did all that could reasonably be expected of them given the circumstances that prevailed.

We appreciate that not all will agree with these findings and will have their own views but we have to support the decision of the umpires and respect the findings of the ECB.

Our focus is now firmly on the Arundel Festival, presented by Irwin Mitchell, starting with a Specsavers Championship match against Northamptonshire on Wednesday 22 June and featuring a NatWest t20 Blast match against Gloucestershire on Sunday 26 June.