Twenty20 in disarray as ECB calls off game
Quarter-final at Durham is abandoned ten minutes before the start because Yorkshire used an ineligible player
John Westerby
The most lucrative competition in county cricket history was thrown into chaos last night when the Twenty20 Cup quarter-final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie was abandoned ten minutes before it was due to start because Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player in a group match 11 days ago.
David Harker, the Durham chief executive, was incensed that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the game at such a late stage. “It's a sorry state of affairs,” he said. “There's so much at stake in this competition, but the biggest cost is
the reputation of cricket and the competition.” The winners of last night's game would have qualified for the finals day, with the two finalists going through to the £2.5million Champions League tournament in October. Yorkshire, therefore, may have denied themselves a chance of a huge pay day with this administrative error.
After a day of frantic negotiations the ECB informed Durham shortly before 5pm that the televised match should not be staged because its result was unlikely to stand. Amid farcical scenes at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, a crowd of about 7,000, who had paid up to £20 for a ticket, were informed of the abandonment at 5.18pm, eight minutes after the scheduled start, prompting angry scenes.
“It was too late in the day,” Harker said. “We should have played, then the ECB needed to decide what sanction was appropriate for the misdemeanour that Yorkshire have committed.”
In their final group match, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws on June 27, Yorkshire gave a first-team debut to Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old from Barnsley, who had captained England Under-15s. It was later discovered that Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and arrived in the UK in 2001, had not been registered by Yorkshire and did not have a British passport, which technically made him an overseas player.
In the match against Nottinghamshire, which Yorkshire won by nine wickets to qualify for the quarter-
finals, Rafiq bowled two overs and did not bat. There were suggestions last night that comments made by Darren Gough, the Yorkshire captain, on his BBC Radio 5 Live show on Thursday alerted the ECB to the issue of Rafiq's eligibility.
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, defended the decision to call off the game. “Clearly it's not ideal when these situations occur on the day of a major match,” he said. “The worst would have been just to ignore it and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that it may have to be replayed.”
An ECB disciplinary panel will meet on Thursday. They could order a replay of the match or throw Yorkshire out of the competition.
Quarter-final at Durham is abandoned ten minutes before the start because Yorkshire used an ineligible player
John Westerby
The most lucrative competition in county cricket history was thrown into chaos last night when the Twenty20 Cup quarter-final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie was abandoned ten minutes before it was due to start because Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player in a group match 11 days ago.
David Harker, the Durham chief executive, was incensed that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) called off the game at such a late stage. “It's a sorry state of affairs,” he said. “There's so much at stake in this competition, but the biggest cost is
the reputation of cricket and the competition.” The winners of last night's game would have qualified for the finals day, with the two finalists going through to the £2.5million Champions League tournament in October. Yorkshire, therefore, may have denied themselves a chance of a huge pay day with this administrative error.
After a day of frantic negotiations the ECB informed Durham shortly before 5pm that the televised match should not be staged because its result was unlikely to stand. Amid farcical scenes at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street, a crowd of about 7,000, who had paid up to £20 for a ticket, were informed of the abandonment at 5.18pm, eight minutes after the scheduled start, prompting angry scenes.
“It was too late in the day,” Harker said. “We should have played, then the ECB needed to decide what sanction was appropriate for the misdemeanour that Yorkshire have committed.”
In their final group match, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws on June 27, Yorkshire gave a first-team debut to Azeem Rafiq, a 17-year-old from Barnsley, who had captained England Under-15s. It was later discovered that Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and arrived in the UK in 2001, had not been registered by Yorkshire and did not have a British passport, which technically made him an overseas player.
In the match against Nottinghamshire, which Yorkshire won by nine wickets to qualify for the quarter-
finals, Rafiq bowled two overs and did not bat. There were suggestions last night that comments made by Darren Gough, the Yorkshire captain, on his BBC Radio 5 Live show on Thursday alerted the ECB to the issue of Rafiq's eligibility.
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, defended the decision to call off the game. “Clearly it's not ideal when these situations occur on the day of a major match,” he said. “The worst would have been just to ignore it and let the game go ahead with the knowledge that it may have to be replayed.”
An ECB disciplinary panel will meet on Thursday. They could order a replay of the match or throw Yorkshire out of the competition.
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