Kent’s hopes of avoiding the County Championship wooden spoon have been dealt a blow after the club was hit with an eight-point penalty in the wake of last week’s five-wicket loss to Glamorgan in Cardiff.The penalty was applied after Kent’s captain, Daniel Bell-Drummond, was adjudged caught-behind for 22 in his team’s second innings. Bell-Drummond protested the decision, and after the incident was referred to the Match Referee, Alec Swann, it was deemed to be an offence under Level 1(c) of the Professional Conduct Regulations.The fixed penalty was the fourth that Kent have accrued in the course of this campaign, following similar similar shows of dissent from Matt Parkinson, Kashif Ali and Tawanda Muyeye in consecutive Championship fixtures in May.Regulation 4.28 of the Professional Conduct Regulations states that any team that receives four or more such penalties in the same season will have committed a separate offence and be referred to the Cricket Regulator.Kent were already rock-bottom in the Second Division of the County Championship, having won just twice in ten games in the course of their campaign. As a consequence of the penalty, they are now 26 points adrift of seventh-place Northamptonshire. The club has confirmed it will not be appealing against the decision.