The second round of the 2015 Western Counties series descended in chaos at Southampton Oval on Saturday.

Southampton Rangers, the cup holders, refused to play and Willow Cuts, the challengers, were declared winners by default.

The opposing teams were at odds over the eligibility of guest players George O’Brien and Chris Douglas who were included in Cuts’ lineup. This led to Rangers refusing to take to the field after losing the toss and being sent in to bat by the challengers.

“Acting officials of the Western Counties Cricket Association reviewed the events that led to the abandonment of the game and they concluded that there was no reason for Rangers refusing to play and awarded the cup to Willow Cuts,” Kim Jackson, the acting Western Counties official, said.

Dexter Basden, the Willow Cuts coach, added: “The toss was flipped and we went to field, the umpires went out there and threw us the ball but they didn’t come out. Their take was that guest players for Willow Cuts were put in at the last minute, which wasn’t true.”

Basden’s opposite number, Ricky Brangman, declined to comment on the situation.

It is now anticipated that Rangers will appeal against the Western Counties’ ruling to award Cuts the cup.

“They have not appealed yet,” Jackson said. “But I am expecting them to appeal because they have indicated that.”

Basden said he hopes the match can be rescheduled.

“I don’t want a cup that we have not played for,” he said. “We always look forward to playing against Rangers and hopefully the match can be rescheduled because I would love to play against them.”

Rangers opened their cup defence the previous weekend with a massive 252 run victory in the first round against challengers PHC at Southampton Oval.