Phil Salt caught CHEATING on field in Vitality Blast! Anti-corruption unit steps in

England opening batter Phil Salt has been relieved of the charges that he suffered during the game against Northamptonshire.

The England batter, who was found using a bat that didn't go through the testing gauge, was accused of cheating, and his bat was taken by the officials for further testing post the match.

After the incident, an LCCC statement said, "At Lancashire, we believe this whole process could have been avoided with improved processes on and off the field, whether that be through better equipment and/or additional training."

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"Following the incident, there have been inappropriate comments made by match commentators, inaccurate articles written in the media, and some unsavoury social media posts towards the player that could have been avoided."

Phil Salt had failed on-field bat check

England opener Phil Salt and former skipper Jos Buttler both made their return in the Vitality T20 Blast. Playing against Northamptonshire Steelbacks, he opened in the first over alongside the skipper.

During the run-chase, the Lancashire opener's bat was tested on-field by the field umpires as part of the routine on-field gauge test. Phil Salt's bat did not pass through the gauge. Though they thought of resolving the matter on the field, the umpires took it further.

Usually, points are deducted from the team's tally, as such a discrepancy is a marked violation of Article 4.36 of the ECB's Professional Conduct Regulations, which states, “Contravention of Playing Conditions 5 or 41.2 shall be regarded as: unfair and improper conduct and therefore a breach of Regulation 3.1; and conduct prejudicial to the interests of cricket and likely to bring the game into disrepute and therefore a breach of Regulations 3.2 and 3.3.”

Lancashire opener cleared of Bat-size allegations

Though Phil Salt claimed that the Lancashire match bat was used by him on several previous occasions for England as well as for RCB in the IPL.

The allegations related to the potential breach of ECB directives 3.2 and 3.3 were cleared by the Cricket Regulator's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). Following the testing process by the cricket regulator, the bat was found not to violate the regulations by any means.

This relieved the player as well as the club of any further action to be taken. The Lancashire County Cricket Club has confirmed that the bat used by Phil Salt has been cleared by the ACU.

After title win with RCB, Salt continues stunning T20 form

Phil Salt made his debut in the IPL first for the Delhi Capitals in 2023. The Capitals picked Salt, where he played 9 games and went on to score 218 runs. He played the next season for the Kolkata Knight Riders and formed a highly successful opening pair with Sunil Narine, where he ended up scoring 435 runs and winning the title with the Knights.

His latest season in the IPL 2025 came with Royal Challengers Bangalore roping him for a huge INR 11.5 crores. The opening batter batting alongside veteran batter Virat Kohli gave several good starts to RCB and amassed 403 runs in this season as well. Salt's incredibility is in his career strike rate of 175.98, too good for a top-order batter.

Having played a significant role in guiding RCB to their maiden title, Salt continues to dominate with his purple patch in the Vitality T20 Blast as well. Salt has featured in two games this season in the Vitality T20 Blast so far, as he scored 124 runs in 2 games with an average of 62.00 with a strike rate over 150.

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