- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,252,475
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Cricket match abandoned after 800 kg 'fit, athletic, dangerous' bull refuses to leave pitch in Newcastle originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- A cricket match near Newcastle, England was abandoned after a runaway 800kg bull invaded the pitch.
- The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield was called off after attempts to remove the bull from the pitch failed.
- The juvenile bull charged players and farmers, even hitting one, before leaving on its own.
Cricket match abandoned after 800 kg bull refuses to leave pitch in Newcastle
Cricket is a sport well accustomed to unusual interruptions, from rain delays to the occasional pitch invader. Rarely, though, does an entire match fall victim to a rampaging farmyard animal, as one North East league fixture discovered in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.
A North East Premier League clash at Burnopfield Cricket Club, near Newcastle, was sensationally abandoned on Saturday evening after a runaway bull stormed onto the field. The hefty animal, weighing a colossal 800kg, had escaped from a nearby farm and refused point-blank to leave.
What began as a source of amusement quickly turned into a serious safety concern. As the frightened beast started charging at players and farmers alike, all attempts to coax it away proved futile, ultimately forcing officials to call off an important fixture entirely.
MORE: Sooryavanshi's emergence couldn't have come at a worse time for Sanju Samson
Efforts to remove the bull fail
Club director Martin Oswell explained how the drama unfolded after the bull reached the pitch at around 3pm. "We couldn't get rid of it," he said. "There was no chance that the game was going to restart before the cut-off time," Oswell added of the doomed contest.
Initially, the situation caused little alarm. "At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny," Oswell recalled, "but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned." The bull's owner even brought a cow along in a failed bid to entice it away.
The mood darkened as the animal turned aggressive. "Two of the farmers tried to stop the bull and it actually hit one of them," Oswell revealed. He described the juvenile bull as "incredibly fit, athletic," before adding, "quite frankly, it was quite dangerous."
Police were eventually summoned before the bull departed "of its own accord," to everyone's relief. The abandonment was a cruel blow for Burnopfield, who sits second in the table and had already posted 226 against Hetton Lyons in what promised to be a thrilling encounter.
MORE: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi bowled in nets after 'scratchy' session
A wild tale with a serious edge
On the surface, a bull halting a cricket match is a wonderfully absurd tale, the kind of story that makes village and league cricket so endearing. Beneath the comedy, however, lurked a seriously dangerous situation that could have ended far worse than it did.
Spare a thought, too, for Burnopfield's players. Denied the chance to win a crucial promotion-chasing fixture by a spooked farmyard escapee is a uniquely frustrating way to lose a game, and the abandonment leaves them with a real sense of what might have been.
For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.
Continue reading...
