A North East Premier League cricket match was abandoned in dramatic scenes on Saturday evening after a rampaging bull invaded the pitch and charged at players. The fixture between Burnopfield Cricket Club and Hetton Lyons was called off despite attempts to remove the animal from the ground.
Bull escaped from farm and travelled a mile to the ground
Martin Oswell, director of Burnopfield CC, said the young bull, estimated to weigh around 800kg, had broken free from a nearby farm and travelled approximately a mile to the cricket ground. 'We couldn't get rid of it,' Mr Oswell told the Press Association. 'There was no chance that the game was going to restart before the cut-off time.'
Initially, the situation seemed amusing to those present. 'At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny – but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned,' Mr Oswell added.
Failed attempts to lure the bull off the field
In a bid to lure the animal off the field, the bull's owner brought a cow to the cricket club, but this proved unsuccessful. 'The farmer who owns the bull arrived at the ground and tried at first to sort of cajole it and get it into a pen, but it failed,' Mr Oswell said. 'The bull was very frightened – it was spooked.'
Safety concerns escalated as the bull was spotted charging at both players and farmers who tried to recapture it. 'Two of the farmers tried to stop the bull and it actually hit one of them,' Mr Oswell said. 'He was OK but I mean, the beast probably weighed about 800kg. It was a juvenile bull, incredibly fit, athletic – quite frankly, it was quite dangerous.'
Police called before bull departed on its own
Officers were ultimately summoned to the scene before the bull departed 'of its own accord', Mr Oswell said. Burnopfield CC had posted a score of 226 runs against opponents Hetton Lyons when play was brought to a halt. 'We're second top of the North East Premier League, so it was an important game for us,' Mr Oswell said. 'And it was a game that I think we had a really good chance of winning. It would have been a really, really good game of cricket.'
