When push comes to shove about a boundary, it’s just not cricket

Cricket is t r aditionally described as a gentleman’s game – but there was nothing gentle about the scuffle that broke out during Aldington’s match at the weekend.

A dispute over whether or not an Aldington batsman hit a four ended in a group brawl, which the umpire said was the worst behaviour he had witnessed in his 40-year career.

Sunday afternoon’s Kent Village Cricket League Three game between Aldington Cricket Club’s 1st XI and Detling Cricket Club at Detling was going well until a home fielder tried to stop a ball reaching the boundary but missed.

Aldington umpire Robert Wanstall, who was at square leg when the argument broke out, said: “In 40-odd years I have never seen anything quite like it. It’s not what you expect from a cricket match.

“There was no ongoing rivalry between the two clubs, it just came completely out of the blue.

“Their guy dived for the ball and it hit his arm, rolled under his body, hit the fence and rolled back.

“I looked at the other umpire, signalled it was a four and thought that was the end of it.

“The fielder assumed it hadn’t gone for four and just saw red. A few words were exchanged and this guy just ran off the pitch and up to our guys that were batting.

“I’ve never seen a guy run 30 metres to prove a point, so to speak.

“There was a bit of pushing and shoving. People were holding people back who were supposedly involved. There was a lot of shouting and a few swear words. It was a bit of a kerfuffle.

“It died down and we carried on.

“The teams shook hands after the game and the man apologised but we thought it wasn’t the best idea to go to the pub and have a drink together so we just went straight back home.”

Mr Wanstall said no punches were thrown, no one was injured and the police were not called.

He submitted a report to the league and officials will investigate and decide whether to take any action against the players involved.

The Kentish Express tried without success to contact Detling Cricket Club for a comment.

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