Cricket match abandoned after ‘dangerous’ runaway bull charges playing field

A runaway bull forced a cricket game in England to be abandoned on Saturday.

The North East Premier League fixture hosted by Burnopfield Cricket Club — situated in County Durham, near Newcastle — against Hetton Lyons was initially suspended after the bull ran onto the pitch.

The bull was described as “very frightened” and “dangerous” by club director Martin Oswell. Social media footage captured by both clubs shows players jogging off the pitch as the bull charged towards the crease.

Despite the police being called to beef up efforts to shift the animal, the match was ultimately called off.

Oswell told the Press Association that the bull had escaped from a farm and travelled around a mile before arriving at the cricket club at 3pm. He said the “beast probably weighed about 800kg”, and that safety concerns arose when it charged towards the players, and hit a farmer who attempted to usher it away from the playing field.

“At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny, but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned,” Oswell said.

Oswell said the bull’s owner transported a cow to the site in an attempt to lure the bull away from the cricket ground.

He described the bull, which eventually left “of its own accord” after police were called to the scene, as “incredibly fit, athletic, quite frankly, it was quite dangerous”.

Burnopfield Cricket Club, who are second in their division standings, had scored 226 runs before play was stopped. Oswell said it was an “important game” and one his side “had a really good chance of winning”. That confidence ended up something of a moot point.

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