Essex then applied to match referee Steve Davis to replace Westley with Thain, a 21-year-old who played 13 out of 14 Championship matches last season but missed out on the playing XI for the match against Hampshire.

Davis dictated that Thain, a former England Under-19 allrounder, would be unable to bowl given that Westley was highly unlikely to do so in the remainder of the match. However, Thain will be able to bat in the first innings, meaning that Essex will be able to use 12 different batters.

Under the ECB’s player replacement regulations, which have been introduced for the 2026 Championship season as part of a wider ICC trial, Westley will now be subject to an eight-day cooling-off period. As a result, he will be unavailable for Essex’s fixture against Somerset at Chelmsford next week, with Sam Cook, Essex’s vice-captain, likely to lead the team in his absence.

The ECB’s pilot follows similar trials in domestic first-class cricket in Australia, India and South Africa. It features one notable addition, with replacements available for players who experience “significant life events”.

Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, encouraged counties earlier this week to “do the right thing” when deciding whether to use replacements and warned that the system’s scope could be rolled back in future if teams did not play fair.