Willow Cuts 89

Southampton Rangers 5-2

(match abandoned due to rain)

A row over rules erupted as Willow Cuts retained their Western Counties title at White Hill Field on Saturday when steady rain forced match officials to bring the proceedings to a halt at 5.30 p.m.

After being dismissed for a paltry total, Cuts found themselves staring straight down the barrel of almost certain defeat despite the challengers losing two quick wickets in the space of four balls in their reply.

However, shortly after Curtis Jackson (two) gloved a catch to Kevin Fubler in the slips off Charles (Bucky) Swan, the heavens opened, forcing the umpires and players off the pitch at 2.45 p.m.

At 4.40, the umpires attempted to resume play, only to have the showers immediately return, prompting both players and officials to retreat to the pavilion.

It was there where the argument over rules governing loss of play began, with Rangers? players and team officials claiming they had been informed prior to the beginning of the match by Western Counties Cricket Association (WCCA) president Gary Dowling that the Duckworth Lewis scoring system would come into effect in the event of rain interrupting play.

However, after consulting with fellow WCCA officials, umpires and club representatives, it was confirmed, according to the WCCA?s constitution, that the Duckworth Lewis did not not apply to the competition.

Instead, the umpires calculated the time remaining in the match after four overs at 5.30 p.m. and then determined that it was impossible to complete the additional 21 overs required to constitute at match, thereby extending Cuts? reign as champions for at least another week.

?Everybody wants to be in charge, yet nobody seems to know the rules,? a frustrated Rangers? skipper Janeiro Tucker told The Royal Gazette afterwards.

Tucker was among those who had claimed WCCA president Dowling had earlier stated the Duckworth Lewis system would come into effect after Rangers had won the crucial toss and sent Cuts into bat.

?I may have said that and probably should have checked first,? Dowling admitted. ?But our constitution states the team batting second has to bat a minimum of 25 overs or else it doesn?t constitute a match.?

Cuts veteran bowler Swan said it didn?t matter how his team retained their title, as long as they got the job done.

?It really doesn?t matter and really I?m just happy that we won,? said Swan, who contributed 14 runs to his team?s total and then claimed both Southampton wickets to fall with the second and fifth deliveries of his second over.

?We just dug deep trying to defend what runs we made. The wicket was pretty jumpy, but Dexter (Basden) and myself hung around a bit and helped the team out.?

After losing the toss, Cuts almost immediately found themselves on the back foot, reeling at eight for the loss of three wickets inside four overs with the big bats of in-form opener Ryan Sheppard (0) and skipper Reggie Tucker jr (0) silenced cheaply.

However, Cuts began a middle order fightback with Trevor Forth (14) and Basden (15) adding 29 runs for the fourth wicket before Rangers? skipper Tucker took a smart return catch off his own bowling to have the former batsman out.

Forth faced 34 balls and hit two fours.

Basden added another 20 runs with Jacobi Robinson (eight) and 15 with Swan before becoming the seventh Cuts wicket to fall in the 30th over. He faced 77 balls and hit two boundaries while Swan also managed two boundaries off 33 balls.

Once Swan was dismissed by a straighter delivery from Rangers off-spinner Olin Jones, Cuts lost their last two wickets without any addition to a total aided considerably by the 29 runs in extras.

Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock ? one of three colts in the match ? led the Rangers bowling with three wickets for 15 runs, backed by Jones? three for 18. Ryan Belboda claimed two for 23 off ten overs.

In reply, Rangers? usually dependable Keith Wainwright was dismissed for one with only four on the scoreboard, caught at long off, while fellow opener Jackson was dismissed three balls later when he got a faint edge to a lifting Swan delivery and was cupped on the second attempt by a juggling Fubler at first slip.

Man-of-the match Swan finished with figures of two for three off two overs.