The English Cricket Board are setting up a three-man panel, which will include a member of the Professional Cricketers' Association, to look into the jostling incident that must have amazed millions of television viewers during the Essex-Glamorgan NatWest Trophy semi-final at Chelmsford on Tuesday night.

Croft, of Glamorgan, and Ilott, of Essex, were fined £1,000 each by their counties on Thursday following their argument about Ilott's appeal against bad light and the ECB inquiry looks like keeping them on tenterhooks for another week.

One aspect for the ECB to consider could be whether the two players were equally to blame, as the fines implied, and Ilott, certainly, admitted he was ``shocked'' by the severity of his punishment.

``It isn't an amount I can pay easily,'' he said. ``I'm hoping that's the end of it.'' The Essex first-team squad will share £22,500 for reaching the final, with a total of £45,000 on offer for the winners.

The irony of the situation has been the two players' long-standing friendship off the field, and they have been regular duetists together on tour - with Neil Sedaka's song Calendar Girl perhaps their best known.

Bill Athey, 39, Sussex's former England opener, yesterday announced his retirement after 21 years in first-class cricket.

Athey played in 23 Tests for England and 31 one-day internationals. He made his Yorkshire debut in 1976, joined Gloucestershire in 1984 and moved to Hove four years ago.

His decision follows the defeat by Warwickshire in the NatWest Trophy semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday.