Cup crowd sparks fears over safety

CRICKET:

A SECOND XI match in the Saddleworth and District Cricket League, which coincided with England’s World Cup game against Germany, finished within minutes of the last-16 tie kicking off.

The fixture between Bamford Fieldhouse and Friarmere at Hollin Lane was cut short apparently because of worries surrounding the amount of people watching events in South Africa on temporary TV screens situated near to the changing facilities.

Friarmere were so concerned, they talked to their senior club officials.

In the end, it is claimed that both captains came to a gentlemen’s agreement to play 10 overs per side instead of the usual 45 to get the game completed as soon as possible.

Bamford were asked to bat first and declared their innings after 10 overs, leaving umpire John McGovern powerless to intervene. Friarmere knocked off the 62 runs required for victory inside eight overs.

Andy Sutcliffe, vice-captain of Friarmere, said: “Initially, we were prepared to walk away (from the game) for the sake of the juniors in our side.

“They were visibly shaken — there must have been up to 300 people at the ground.

“The TV screens were situated close to the dressing rooms and it would have meant walking through the crowd every time a wicket fell.

“Nobody’s mind was on cricket, we just wanted to get the game over with for safety reasons.”

The match was completed without incident, and the Friarmere players were back at their own club by 3.30pm.

Sutcliffe (45), who is in his second spell at Friarmere, added: “The ground at Bamford looks lovely and I’ve got to give them great credit for the work they have done.

“But what they did was without any regard to cricket and also to the detriment of the game.

“Why couldn’t they just show the match inside the clubhouse?”

Bamford chairman Andy Barton said they had erected the TV screens for every England game in the World Cup, and had used netting to keep the area separate from the field of play. They also told the league that a large crowd would be present, and this was related to the umpire.




HOLLINWOOD and Glodwick were fined £25 each and warned about their future conduct after a Twenty20 match was abandoned.



Glodwick were 63 for three in the first round tie when rain stopped play.

With the wicket soaked, efforts were made to site a set of stumps on the outfield for a bowl-out.

But despite urgings from the umpires, the bowl-out never happened and the match was called off.

The league wanted to take stronger action against the two clubs, but evidence gained for the disciplinary hearing was not substantiated by an independent witness on the night.

The match was eventually replayed, with Glodwick emerging the winners.