IT’S REALLY NOT CRICKET
Team played pair of ringers
IT is a game famed for its camaraderie, sportsmanship and all-round good manners.
But a Highland amateur cricket club have thrown the sport into disrepute after being caught cheating in a major cup match.
Forres St Lawrence Cricket Club, in Moray, had the book thrown at them by the sport’s governing body after fielding two ineligible players during the game.
Cricket Scotland found the club had used a father and son duo, who took part under fake names, as ‘ringers’ during the first round of the Cricket Scotland 10K Cup in May this year.
Neil McGrath and his teenage son Tommy, who once played for Forres but now play for Galloway Cricket Club, turned out for the match on May 20 despite not being allowed to play for another team.
Forres took on Leith Franklin Academicals Beige Cricket Club in Edinburgh.
After the duplicity was discovered, the Cricket Scotland disciplinary panel banned
‘Contrary to the spirit of the game’
the Highland club from taking part in the cup next year.
The North of Scotland Cricket Association (NoSCA) also took sanctions against the club, handing chairman Nigel Gerard and secretary Carolyn Farr six-match bans from all forms of cricket.
The pair accepted full responsibility, admitting a charge of ‘actions which were contrary to the spirit of the game’.
The team captain, Pal Dhami, received the same sanction.
All the other players who took part in the contest against Leith have been given a two-match penalty, suspended for a year.
Before their deception was exposed, Forres St Lawrence went on to qualify for the final of the competition. However, Leith will now meet Falkland in the cup final at Grange Loan in Edinburgh tomorrow.
Forres said: ‘Forres St Lawrence wishes to profoundly apologise for us getting it absolutely wrong in the Cricket Scotland 10K Cup by selecting two Forresians who were playing their cricket elsewhere.
‘We made a wrong decision even worse by playing them under false names. We could not have anticipated the embarrassment this has caused several parties who are very important to us. We are deeply sorry to have caused such embarrassment to our friends and supporters.’
Cricket Scotland chief executive Malcolm Cannon acknowledged that some teams struggle to raise enough players for every game, but that the rules cannot be ignored. He said: ‘There are cup rules to be upheld and the CS disciplinary panel found Forres CC guilty of breaching these and disqualified them from the cup competition for this season, and banned them from the CS Challenge cup in 2019.’