Sandown Park sought legal advice and clarification from the Department of Immigration, after the club was deemed to have breached the rule pertaining to Australian residency with up to eight of its players who were overseas university students.

Under rule 23, only one overseas player can compete in a club's top team.

Any additional overseas players must have Australian residency.

Sandown was fined and stripped of points and, after finishing the season top of the D grade ladder, was unable to contest the finals because it didn't have enough qualified and financial players to field a team.

President Brenden Lidgerwood said after taking legal advice and speaking with the Immigration Department, he accepted the decision but questioned the "spirit" of the law.

"We were in the wrong in the true sense of the law [rule 23], but was it applied in the true spirit of the law?

"In the end, all we were doing was providing students with a game of cricket on the weekend. The association, after speaking with Cricket Victoria, may look at changing the spirit of the rule in that it may be revised and adjustments made for student visas next season.

"We withdrew from the finals for the good of the game, and to be fair to the other teams in the competition."

Association president Michael Hawking said a change to the rule may be considered next year.

"What we propose is a rule that in some way will allow clubs to recruit these players who are on student visas, and perhaps we can make allowances within the rule for these kids who are out here primarily to study and not to play cricket.

"It's a rule that has evolved from the period of when we got Englishmen across to play as professionals and cricket imports. We can't change the rule unless the clubs agree to it."