The Scotsman

It’s just not cricket: club sorry for using ringers in cup match

● Forres: ‘We have learned from mistakes’

- By JANE BRADLEY

A Highlands cricket club has been forced to issue a grovelling apology after admitting that it used two “ringers” during a game earlier in the season – using fake names to conceal their true identity.

Forres St Lawrence Cricket Club has been severely punished by the sport’s governing body after it emerged that two ineligible players had joined the team during a Cricket Scotland 10k match against Leith Franklin Academical­s Beige Cricket Club on 20 May.

The players – Neil Mcgrath and his teenage son Tommy – had previously competed for Forres, but now play for Galloway Cricket Club and are no longer allowed to take part in Forres games. Cricket Scotland disqualifi­ed the club from a final against Falkland in August and subsequent­ly issued a suspension from Cricket Scotland competitio­ns for the coming 2019 season. Club chairman Nigel Gerard and secretary Carolyn Farr admitted a charge of “actions which were contrary to the spirit of the game” and were given a six-match ban from all forms of cricket. Team captain Pal Dhami, was also banned for six games.

The club 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 made even worse by playing them under false names.”

It also apologised to the North of Scotland Cricket Associatio­n (Nosca) – in which the club were 2018 champions.

It said: “All the clubs in Nosca – we realise that we have let everybody down and that some may feel that Nosca should have take further action. We also realise that this puts everybody in a difficult situation. We are deeply sorry to have caused such embarrassm­ent to our friends and supporters in Forres and those further afield.”

It added: “We will certainly learn 100 per cent from our mistakes and hope that we will be allowed to continue to be part of Nosca in the atmosphere of brotherhoo­d we have appreciate­d over the years.”

The club had previously claimed that it did not expect to win any of the games in the competitio­n and had only drafted in Mr Mcgrath and his son at the last minute due to being short of players, describing itself as “the equivalent of a pub team” whose wins were “a fairy tale”.

Cricket fans took to social media to express their displeasur­e. “Big to apologise, but to cheat in cricket, disreputab­le,” said Mike Horne. “Heads should roll. Someone made the decision.”

Tanya Mclaren added: “False names?...not cricket that!”

The final of the Cricket Scotland 10k cup will be played on Saturday at Grange Loan in Edinburgh.

Cricket Scotland did not respond to a request for comment, however on their website, a statement said: “Subsequent to the semi-final Forres St Lawrence were disqualifi­ed for playing ineligible players in their first-round match v Leith FAB.”

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