We have seen a cricket match been stopped, suspended due to bizarre reasons but this one surely is one of a kind. This happened during a County Championship Division One game between Surrey and Middlesex. The play was suspended in the during the third innings of the match. The cricketers ran off the field as Umpires acted quickly after they saw an arrow land at the Oval, one the most reputed cricket ground in the world. All the players were back to the pavilion in a jiffy as they sprinted towards the pavilion. The play was suspended immediately and the match was drawn.
Stuart Meaker, who was playing the match, tweeted, “Well…we have just officially gone off the field because a metal tipped arrow just landed on the pitch!!”
“Police were made aware at 16:35hrs on Thursday, 31 August of reports that an arrow or crossbow bolt had been loosed into the Oval Cricket ground. Officers are on scene. The ground is in the process of a controlled evacuation. There are no reported injuries,” Metropolitan Police was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“At this early stage it is believed that the object came from outside of the ground. There have been no arrests. We retain an open mind as to motive. Enquiries continue.”
Here’s the video of the incident-
Surrey skipper Gareth Batty, who was fielding just 25-yards away from where the arrow was found, said, “It was a pretty tasty arrow with a proper metal end. I did archery as a kid and that was not a normal archery arrow. The umpires dealt with it very well. There were no questions asked – we went off very quickly,”
“Someone saw it in flight, there was a noise when it landed but it happened so quick. It is a deadly weapon for sure. If it had hit someone it would have caused some serious damage. It just shows the world we live in, he added.”
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