Local cricketer assaulted during match

A local cricketer assaulted during a match between Basildon & Pitsea versus Stanford-le-Hope on Saturday afternoon ends in hospital.

The man in his sixties, from Grays, was hit round the head with a cricket bat after an argument with a member of the opposing team

Following the incident the fourth team game was abandoned and police and ambulance crews were called to the Langdon Hills Recreational Ground.

A man in his forties, from Tilbury, has been arrested on suspicion of assault and questioned, but subsequently released without charge.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “There has been an altercation involving two men.

“The Ambulance crews contacted us with reports of an assault at the Langdon Hill Recreation Ground at about 1.50pm on Saturday.”

It is believed the injured man is now resting at home.

In a statement, Shepherd Neame Essex League’s Chairman Andrew Kennedy said: “A player from each side was involved in an altercation which resulted in one of the players being hospitalised.

“Essex Police and the individual clubs will be conducting their own investigations as soon as is practicable.”

Mr Kennedy confirmed the league would be taking action once the investigation is concluded.

Cricket is normally considered a relatively peaceable game, unlike mens soccer with its all too frequent professional fouls or the rather better humoured rough and tumble of rugby. But cricket has always seemed the repository of those delightfully old-fashioned public school virtues of conduct with a straight bat, stiff upper lip, playing the game etc. What is the world coming to?

Do you remember those delightful musings of John Arlott as he set the scene at the sort of Test when the weather makes everyone dozy and Boycott was cementing the mood by a series of defensive shots that would make watching paint dry seem hyperactive. Do you remember how he would describe a pigeon pecking away at the beautiful outfield turf or a fielder seemingly more interested in looking for a four-leaved clover than the game? Of course, the fielder could always spend the interminable hours making daisy chains: except on second thoughts that might seem a little infra dig.