A Welsh club has copped plenty of criticism, after declaring a mere 2.3 overs into their innings, in order to prevent the opposition from gaining title-winning bonus points.
Log leaders Carew Cricket Club’s premature declaration on 18 for one was within the rules of the Pembroke County Cricket Club division one – and ultimately denied the second-placed Cresselly Cricket Club the 22 points required for the 2017 title.
Instead, Cresselly Cricket Club were afforded an insufficient 20 in the wake of Carew Cricket Club shrewd – albeit controversial – decision. Carew Cricket Club, therefore, lost the match but won the trophy.
Former first-class cricketers Gareth Rees, Mark Wallace and Steve James – who all played for Glamorgan in Wales – collectively condemned the move on Twitter.
Just heard what happened in the Pembs league today. What an embarrassment from @CarewClub shocking behavior
— Gareth Rees (@garethprees28) August 26, 2017
You are kidding me!!! Disgrace! https://t.co/3LuCxZRhH1 — Mark Wallace (@MarkWallace18) August 27, 2017
This is a disgrace. Just hope they realise what a mistake they have made.. https://t.co/dY9ojI0PuC
— Steve James (@sjamesjourno) August 27, 2017
Cresselly Cricket Club responded with a transparent post on Facebook: “We would like to make a short announcement due to constant requests from various media outlets to comment.
“Firstly, at no point did any of our officials or captain say that Cresselly Cricket Club would have done the same thing should the positions had been the other way.
“We obviously feel hard done by at not being able to play a proper game to determine the winner. Thinking that Carew Cricket Club would want to beat us the right way and show everyone they are, indeed, the very best, their choice to declare and deliberately lose was at odds with their title of champions of the county.
“We are disappointed for our supporters, some who travelled quite a few hours to watch what should have been a top game, and also people who took time off work to play and to watch. Many well known people from the sport have commented and it has made a lot of online sport sites.
“Some people have asked if we think deliberately losing is match fixing and if we wanted to go down that road. But we will leave that up to Pembroke County Cricket Club to decide. So, to sum up we are very disappointed but we want to move on.”