Eastwood find controversy again
by Alan Rowley, 29th May 2003

Game over - or is it?

Eastwood Town find themselves at the centre of controversy yet again, with strong words being exchanged, not only on this site, but on the official South Notts League site. The incident which sparked all the bad feeling took place at The Breach on Saturday night. After dismissing Eastwood 2nds for an average looking 138 in 46 overs, Gedling 2nds appeared to be struggling at 50 for 5. However, in an incident that would have graced any 'What Happened Next' quiz, the whole game degenerated into pantomime. In the 46th over, Gedling were on 116 for 6, still 22 runs behind with two overs remaining - or should that be four?

The Gedling players sat on the balcony, and the majority of the sparse crowd, were under the impression that Gedling were entitled to the two overs which the home side did not use. Indeed, rule 29 (b) clearly states:

'The side batting first shall occupy no more than 48 overs. In the event of the side batting first either declaring or being bowled out in less than 48 overs, the innings of the side batting second shall extend for the balance of the 96 overs. Any odd number of balls bowled shall be deemed a full over.'

Apparently, none of the players in the middle, nor the two umpires, appeared to realise this.

Seven runs came off the 47th over to leave Gedling on 123 for 6, still 15 runs behind. It was here that the game started to go horribly wrong for Eastwood. The Town skipper placed all his fielders on the boundary for the 48th over, apparently under the impression that Gedling still needed 15 runs to win from this one over.

Confusion reigns while the rule book is read

The Gedling players, White and Moore, pushed and prodded singles to leave the score on 129 for 6 after 48 overs to leave Eastwood under the impression that they had earned a winning draw. The two umpires promptly uprooted the stumps and the players trooped off.

At this point, the Gedling lads sat on the balcony were aghast, and as the Eastwood players were making their way back to the changing rooms, three of the Gedling lads walked onto the pitch brandishing the rule book. Words were exchanged with the retiring Eastwood players, and a few minutes of utter confusion ensued whilst batsmen, fielders and umpires read the rules.

Mission accomplished

Well what do we do now?

Eventually, it was decided that Gedling had two more overs in which to knock off the remaining 10 runs, which they duly did for the loss of Moore's wicket. To be fair to the Eastwood players, they readily accepted the umpires' changed decision and finished off the game.

A downhearted and gutted Eastwood team made their way back to the pavilion for a second time to analyse where the whole sorry episode went wrong.

Downhearted and gutted - the Eastwood players leave the field, again!

Following the game, angry words have been exchanged on this site's message board, and on the official site's guestbook, between the Eastwood and Gedling players. Far be it for me to criticise players or umpires, but this was clearly a case of a misuderstanding of the rules. Certain members of the Eastwood team were clearly convince that the rules had changed recently, and the umpires also appeared to back up their view.

Gedling, however, had read the rule book.