Condemnation for club cricketer after unsavoury incident

An act of bad sportsmanship that denied a club cricketer his maiden century has been condemned by the likes of Piers Morgan, David Lloyd and Rob Key.

A fixture in the Somerset Cricket League was reaching its conclusion on Saturday, with Minehead Second XI batsman Jay Darrell two runs short of his first hundred and five needed to win.

An unidentified bowler from Purnell Cricket Club reportedly chose to throw the ball over the boundary in his delivery stride, conceding four overthrows and a no-ball – leaving Darrell high and dry.

Minehead’s Twitter account later wrote: “Respect to the @purnellcc captain who apologised to the batsman on behalf of his bowler. But some things just can’t be undone :(”

One club-mate of Darrell took to the social media site to describe the incident as “the worst moment of my cricket life” and “embarrassing” while another wrote how the Purnell team were “disgusted” by the bowler.

The story soon travelled well beyond the confines of the pavilion, though, with broadcaster and cricket fan Morgan taking up the issue.

Retweeting an account of the moment, he commented: “SERIOUSLY? How utterly pathetic. Shame on you @purnellcc.” Lloyd did likewise, succinctly describing the act as “ordinary”.

It was also discussed on Sky Sports’ coverage of the Vitality Blast, where former England batsman Rob Key said: “How average is that? That is appalling.”

Purnell posted: “The unsavoury scenes to end the game can’t be condoned & both the Captain & the player made full & sincere apologies to those involved after the game. The incident will be dealt with internally by the Club.”