Nostell St Oswald: The curious case of sun stopped play

This is the extraordinary case of the club cricket match that was abandoned because of the sun.

That it happened in Yorkshire after what has been, by all accounts, a fairly lamentably cold and wet summer, is doubly surprising.

Nostell St Oswald 1st XI were at home to West Bretton 1st XI in the Premier Division of the Pontefract & District Cricket League.

(📸 Photos are from our midweek game report on 2 July)

Scores level

The visitors scored 235-6 off 46 overs and the run chase went right down to the wire. The scores were level with Nostell St Oswald 235-7 off 41 overs.

At that point, the umpire took the players off due to the fact that the low sun was deemed to be shining in the batter’s eyes.

It was done as a matter of safety but with both teams happy to continue – or briefly pause to wait for the sun to move around a bit – this understandably caused some puzzlement and no small amount of outrage.

The bubbling sense of injustice is not particularly to do with league placings or points, given the home club are not in the hunt for the title.

Until now, a game at Garmin Lane had never been abandoned despite the fact that the sun shining behind the bowler’s arm is a frequent quirk of playing there at certain times of the year.

Complaint to the league

Nostell St Oswald were annoyed enough to reluctantly submit a complaint against the umpire, arguing the case why this was not in the interests of the game or following correct procedure. Their complaint to the league was posted publicly on their Play-Cricket website for anyone to read.

In concluding, it did not pull any punches: “Nostell firmly believe that what happened on Saturday is the biggest disgrace that any member has seen in their cricketing careers. The rules went out of the window, process went out of the window, and it became about one man wanting to ruin the efforts of volunteers, players, ground staff etc.”

Now, I wasn’t there and haven’t spoken to either the league nor the umpire himself but have had some extra context from the home club. Unless there is an added dimension we don’t know about (which there might be), it certainly looks like an inexplicable thing to do.

I believe the umpire gave the players a warning that it would be the last over due to the sun – but it doesn’t stop there.

Conceding a game in protest

The league’s response was to support the umpire – and as a result of that, Nostell St Oswald did something fairly unusual and pulled out of their subsequent home game the following week against Oulton in protest.

Whether this achieved anything or not, it will not be repeated over the Bank Holiday weekend with the seconds at home to Bentley Colliery (Saturday 24 August), followed by the firsts at home to Brodsworth Main (Monday 26 August).

Perhaps it did sharpen minds because the Pontefract & District Cricket League have asked to meet with Nostell St Oswald to discuss the matter further over the next week.

Supporting umpires – but how far?

I absolutely understand the need for leagues to support their umpires, it can be a devilishly difficult role after all – but with players and clubs having to adhere to a code of conduct on behaviour and standards, I wonder to what extent umpires have to follow the same – and who judges that?

Safety is paramount but common sense is a close second when so much is done to get the game on in the first place.

Want to read more?

To read a happier telling of a game at Nostell St Oswald, would you believe it but we have just the thing!

Earlier this year, Andrew Gallon travelled to watch a midweek fixture at Garmil Lane.