Cricketer in England banned for acting against the spirit of the game

Whenever a batsman is playing deep in the nineties and inching closer to a hundred, the opposition brings in more fielders to add pressure and do everything in their power to try and get the wicket. All that falls into the zone of competitive spirit and thus considered in the right light. However, a cricketer in England‘s Somerset Cricket League during a Division 2 match, threw the ball to the boundary to deny the batsman a hundred.

It was the match between Minehead Cricket Club and Purnell Cricket Club played on August 4. In the second innings of the match, a bowler from Purnell CC who hasn’t been named bowled a no-ball and in fact, ensured the ball reached the boundary ropes just to prevent Minehead CC’s Jay Darrell from scoring a hundred. Darrell was batting on 98 and his team required exactly two runs to win the match.

Minehead CC won the match but the bowler was severely criticised for acting against the spirit of the game. Acting on the same SCL has banned him for 9 completed matches.

“The Somerset Cricket League has noted the details of an incident that occurred in the Division 2 match between Minehead 2nd XI v Purnells CC, played on 4th August 2018. The SCL Disciplinary Committee has reviewed the incident. The incident in its opinion brought the SCL and Cricket in general into disrepute and contained behaviour that was against the Spirit of the Game. As a result of this review, a Purnells CC player has been banned for the next 9 completed SCL matches,” the SCL said in its statement.

The batsman’s reaction

Darrell who remained unbeaten on 98 as his team got over the line tweeted- “Hell of game today shame the way it ended but oh well!!! Thanks for all the support today!! #UTP #Mineheadcc #litter”

Hell of game today shame the way it ended but oh well!!! Thanks for all the support today!! #UTP #Mineheadcc #litter

— Jay Darrell (@JayDarrell1) August 4, 2018

This is the harshest punishment a cricketer has been served with for this kind of an offence. In the 2017 edition of the Caribbean Premier League Barbados Tridents’ Kieron Pollard delivered a deliberate no-ball when St Kitts and Nevis Patriots needed one run to win and star batsman Evin Lewis was on strike batting on 97. There was no official action initiated against Pollard and he walked away with it.

On the international arena, India’s Virender Sehwag was batting on 99 and Team India needed one run to beat Sri Lanka in an ODI. Sri Lankan spinner Suraj Randiv overstepped while delivering the ball and though Sehwag hit it for a six, the match ended with the extra run and he didn’t get the hundred. Randiv was found guilty of acting against the spirit of the game and suspended for a match.

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