one-year ban for misconduct reduced, clearing the way for him to resume playing from July 1 next year.

Richardson was charged with captain Clay Smith following their conduct in the club's final league match when they showed dissent after decisions made by stand-in umpire Colin Blades.

Smith, too, was found guilty and banned until next June, a suspension which keeps him out of the upcoming Red Stripe Bowl in Jamaica.

But while Richardson appealed his decision on the grounds that it was harsh considering his unblemished record over a 30-year period, Smith never lodged an appeal before heading back to school abroad. He will miss only a few games at the start of next season.

The original ban on Richardson would have kept him out of league cricket next season and would have likely ended his career as a Premier League player as he turns 42 next month. But now he can look forward to playing again next season.

"I'm very pleased, I was very confident in the appeals committee, confident they would use sound judgement,'' said Richardson who now expects to miss about five or six games at the start of the season.

"It was unfortunate I couldn't make it to the initial hearing, to let the committee hear my side of the story. Maybe that influenced them as well.'' St. David's CC have been invited to participate in a tournament called the Millenium Invitational Club Cricket Festival next summer in Durham, England.

The invitation came through club member Mickey Pitcher who was in England last year and met one of the people involved in the organising of the tournament.

The event will involve 16 men's teams and 12 women's teams from places like Switzerland, Staten Island, New York, Luxembourg, Barbados (Piton Dover Club), the Queens Club in Trinidad and Tobago, Norway, Greece, Spain and Denmark as well as a couple of UK teams.