Two balls, four wickets, one angry scorer

We’ve all heard of teams losing wickets in a heap, but four wickets in two balls is stretching things a bit, right? Well, that’s what happened in a premier club cricket match in Napier on Saturday, when Napier Old Boys’ Marist claimed four wickets off two legal deliveries against Napier Technical Old Boys – and no run-out off no balls.

The drama began in the 48th over of the Napier Technical Old Boys innings. Offspinner Indika Senarathne had No. 7 Stevie Smidt stumped off an ‘unplayable wide’ and then re-bowled the delivery – legally this time – to knock over the leg stump of Liam Rukuwai for a golden duck. Senarathne did not disappoint with the hat-trick delivery that followed, flighting the ball to have JK Whyte caught and bowled. Things got worse for Napier Technical Old Boys; the flurry of wickets caught No. 10 batsman Craig Herrick off guard. He’d doubled up as scorer for the innings, and amid all the drama, had forgotten it was his turn to bat. Mindful of the three-minute timed-out rule, he rushed to the changing rooms from the scorer’s spot in the pavilion and wrestled with gloves, bat, helmet and various protective pads. Senarathne – credit him for his attention to technical detail – soon started appealing, with an eye on the watch. Going by the rules of the game, umpires Del Whyte and Paul Anderson had no choice but to give Herrick timed-out. Talk about troubling the scorer.