Groundsman costs Harris two yards of pace

Australia seamer Ryan Harris faced an unusual problem when he turned out for his local club Toombul in a Brisbane grade match. The Courier Mail reported that Harris, on his comeback from injury, had to strain to pitch the ball up in his opening over. After a series of edges failed to reach the slips, the pitch was inspected closely by the rookie groundsman who realised that he had marked it too long.

"He had mucked up his tape measure and the pitch was 22 metres long rather than the normal 22 yards long,'' Harris said. The error translated to a near two-metre addition to the strip, since 22 yards corresponds to a little over 20 metres.

"It had to be re-marked and the game had to be restarted," Harris said. "Never in my life have I been a part of anything like that on a cricket field, or even seen anything like that. It was so funny but it was also bloody embarrassing for the club."