Hampshire seamer Chris Wood has been given a two-month suspended ban for placing bets on nine cricket matches.

Wood admitted gambling when contacted by the England & Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) and co-operated with their investigation.

His ban has been suspended for a period of two years.

The ban will not be enforced if Wood – who has admitted to being a gambling addict during the period concerned – does not commit any offences under the anti-corruption codes of the ECB, International Cricket Council (ICC) or any ICC member association in the two-year period from 4 December this year.

“I want to apologise for the mistakes I made in 2011 and 2016. It is something I deeply regret,” Wood said.

“While I played no part in any of the games that I placed bets on, I totally understand the rules that I am not permitted to bet on cricket, under any circumstance.”

Gambling ‘consumed’ Wood’s life

Wood’s sanction took several mitigating factors into account.

The investigation found the bets he placed did not affect, or have the potential to affect, the result of the nine matches and that he did not play in any of them.

At the time of the offences, Wood was suffering from a gambling disorder.

He has since sought help and earlier this year spoke publicly about the issues he has faced, telling BBC South Today that gambling “took over everything” and “consumed” his life.

He is also providing advice and assistance to others experiencing problems with or addiction to gambling, both inside and outside of sport.

Wood apologised for his “mistakes” in a statement on the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) website and said that at the time he had “no regard for the consequences” of his actions.

“Over the past two years through the support of the PCA, Professional Cricketers’ Trust and Sporting Chance I have turned my life around and I have not gambled for over two years,” he continued.

“I revealed this disease I am battling earlier this year with the aim to help others, not just in cricket but in any sport or walk of life and I hope my journey can help others reach out for support.

“I recently started working with EPIC Risk Management which is the next stage of my recovery to provide a real life example to young people on the dangers of gambling and I hope this is something that will make a difference so people do not face the same challenges I have done earlier in my life.”