What started a good day became an increasingly frustrating day and is a classic example of how organisation take decisions with little or regard for the public which finances their continued existence.
These are the facts known to me and which are significantly at variance at what is being presented to the public, although statements now being made which are at a variance to which were made earlier.
The issue is when Durham Cricket Club which has a duty to care for its Membership, visiting Members and the public in general were first notified by visiting team Yorkshire and the English Cricket Board that the game should not take place until a decision was taken if Yorkshire was to be excluded from the rest of the competition. In an ideal world the Chief Executives or whoever was responsible for what happened to Members and supporters should offer their resignations and these should be accepted. Nothing less will undo the damage to the integrity of the Board and the two Clubs. I am particularly concerned that it is evident that Durham continued to take money at the turnstiles and allow ticket holders into the ground after they were aware that the game should not take place.
I arrived at the ground and was at the ticket car park ticket machine with others at precisely 4pm in order to qualify for the four hour payment period after which car parking was free. There was surface water in one car park and in the adjacent parkland so when a steward outside the ground said it had only just opened because there was a question mark over the game taking place, I assumed this concerned the weather conditions, and this may have been the case.
Because it looked as if it could start to rain again I made my way to the Member's lounge and the covered balcony where a vacant seat was found a short distance away from a Sky TV camera position. I settled down to read an evening paper after buying a non alcoholic drink at the bar wondering if I had made a mistake in bringing sandwiches instead of investing in a large plate of chips of £1.50. I was surprised that although the wicket was uncovered with the stumps ready for play, neither team was out as usual warming up and entertaining supporters. When a slight rain commenced the pitch was quickly covered and a announcement made that play would be delayed because of the weather and more information would be provided. However I quickly learnt that the prolonged but slight shower was not the cause of the delay as the Sky Cameraman while connected to his production staff told at least two Durham Members and one from Durham that Yorkshire had been played an ineligible player in a previous round of the competition and had been told they could be removed from the competition and were therefore refusing to play unless the threat was lifted and they were not even prepared to play an exhibition match. It was further disclosed that Yorkshire had been made aware of the problem last week and that they had expected fine because of the technicalities. However it was subsequently discovered that although the player had a work and stay permit he was not a British subject and Yorkshire already had their quota of overseas players so they would have to end the contract of one to acquire another.
I have great sympathy for the Yorkshire players who after losing in the Friend's Provident semi final last week were seeing their hopes of reaching another final dashed because of the administration failure, but I do not understand why having been advised of the position in the morning the match was immediately called off or postponed before people travelled, incurred parking charges and in some instances paid cash for admittance at the turnstiles. My accusation is that the decided that unless the threat of elimination was withdrawn they were not going to play. It is difficult to also understand why Durham did not stop further admission once they knew there was a major problem and why it was an hour before they announced the game would not take place yesterday or today when weather permitting it could also have been played.
What is also of concern is that the majority in the crowd were oblivious to the situation as they were officially told by club that the delay was due to weather conditions and when about an hour later we were official told the position the rain had stopped for some time and the sun had come out and that the announcer said the decision not to play has just been taken. What an amazing coincidence given that the players had not come out for their warm up either before the rain or as soon as it stopped. While the English board must share major responsibility with Yorkshire Durham Management cannot pretend they were in the hands of others. The could and should have informed their Members and supporters as soon as they became aware that play was unlikely.
I have previously mentioned that four of the five matches in the league part of the competition were delayed and had no result because of rain Those attending had incurred transport coasts and car parking. There were no complaints about the club or conduct of the players. Yesterday everyone was incensed about the situation and I have never experienced such a reaction at a cricket match as was witnessed in the Member's lounge and then on the way to vehicles. The integrity and reputation of both clubs has been severely dented. What then upset me more was the spin that both clubs put on the situation afterwards.
Today after reporting my experience to the clubs and the ECB I went to out to buy the regional daily paper but before calling at the nearest newsagents visited a new convenience store which is about the third attempt to make use of the former local post office an earlier casualty in the closure of such facilities. Although they had copies of daily newspapers they did not have the journal so I made my way out after having a quick look around what was on display but missed that there was a step and went crashing into a display unit hit my nose fiercely against a metal tray and splitting the skin on my nose so that blood flowed profusely. I did not think I had broken anything but agreed that an ambulance b called who first checked that I had not been knock insomnious on hit myself more severely but confirmed that I would need to have the wound glued, was an expression not previously encountered. The ambulance came quickly but the process of being booked in to the District General, seeing a nurse seeing a doctor and seeing a nurse again took over two hours, one suspects because having a head injury they wanted plenty of time to ensure there were other consequences. I was given a card which listed the symptoms which if felt I should return. I had gone out for the paper around 10.30 and it was half past two when I returned by taxi, enjoying telling the tale on the journey.
However I had wasted half a day but thankful that the injury had not be worse. It was washing day, the ordinary washing of clothes for the week, washing the jacket and handkerchiefs separately and then a third wash of a cover of the settee because it is white and required washing through normal usage. I also did a dusting and a tidy planned for the day leaving the vacuuming and floors tomorrow and the bathroom for Thursday morning and then settled down to watching cricket on Sky TV!
These are the facts known to me and which are significantly at variance at what is being presented to the public, although statements now being made which are at a variance to which were made earlier.
The issue is when Durham Cricket Club which has a duty to care for its Membership, visiting Members and the public in general were first notified by visiting team Yorkshire and the English Cricket Board that the game should not take place until a decision was taken if Yorkshire was to be excluded from the rest of the competition. In an ideal world the Chief Executives or whoever was responsible for what happened to Members and supporters should offer their resignations and these should be accepted. Nothing less will undo the damage to the integrity of the Board and the two Clubs. I am particularly concerned that it is evident that Durham continued to take money at the turnstiles and allow ticket holders into the ground after they were aware that the game should not take place.
I arrived at the ground and was at the ticket car park ticket machine with others at precisely 4pm in order to qualify for the four hour payment period after which car parking was free. There was surface water in one car park and in the adjacent parkland so when a steward outside the ground said it had only just opened because there was a question mark over the game taking place, I assumed this concerned the weather conditions, and this may have been the case.
Because it looked as if it could start to rain again I made my way to the Member's lounge and the covered balcony where a vacant seat was found a short distance away from a Sky TV camera position. I settled down to read an evening paper after buying a non alcoholic drink at the bar wondering if I had made a mistake in bringing sandwiches instead of investing in a large plate of chips of £1.50. I was surprised that although the wicket was uncovered with the stumps ready for play, neither team was out as usual warming up and entertaining supporters. When a slight rain commenced the pitch was quickly covered and a announcement made that play would be delayed because of the weather and more information would be provided. However I quickly learnt that the prolonged but slight shower was not the cause of the delay as the Sky Cameraman while connected to his production staff told at least two Durham Members and one from Durham that Yorkshire had been played an ineligible player in a previous round of the competition and had been told they could be removed from the competition and were therefore refusing to play unless the threat was lifted and they were not even prepared to play an exhibition match. It was further disclosed that Yorkshire had been made aware of the problem last week and that they had expected fine because of the technicalities. However it was subsequently discovered that although the player had a work and stay permit he was not a British subject and Yorkshire already had their quota of overseas players so they would have to end the contract of one to acquire another.
I have great sympathy for the Yorkshire players who after losing in the Friend's Provident semi final last week were seeing their hopes of reaching another final dashed because of the administration failure, but I do not understand why having been advised of the position in the morning the match was immediately called off or postponed before people travelled, incurred parking charges and in some instances paid cash for admittance at the turnstiles. My accusation is that the decided that unless the threat of elimination was withdrawn they were not going to play. It is difficult to also understand why Durham did not stop further admission once they knew there was a major problem and why it was an hour before they announced the game would not take place yesterday or today when weather permitting it could also have been played.
What is also of concern is that the majority in the crowd were oblivious to the situation as they were officially told by club that the delay was due to weather conditions and when about an hour later we were official told the position the rain had stopped for some time and the sun had come out and that the announcer said the decision not to play has just been taken. What an amazing coincidence given that the players had not come out for their warm up either before the rain or as soon as it stopped. While the English board must share major responsibility with Yorkshire Durham Management cannot pretend they were in the hands of others. The could and should have informed their Members and supporters as soon as they became aware that play was unlikely.
I have previously mentioned that four of the five matches in the league part of the competition were delayed and had no result because of rain Those attending had incurred transport coasts and car parking. There were no complaints about the club or conduct of the players. Yesterday everyone was incensed about the situation and I have never experienced such a reaction at a cricket match as was witnessed in the Member's lounge and then on the way to vehicles. The integrity and reputation of both clubs has been severely dented. What then upset me more was the spin that both clubs put on the situation afterwards.
Today after reporting my experience to the clubs and the ECB I went to out to buy the regional daily paper but before calling at the nearest newsagents visited a new convenience store which is about the third attempt to make use of the former local post office an earlier casualty in the closure of such facilities. Although they had copies of daily newspapers they did not have the journal so I made my way out after having a quick look around what was on display but missed that there was a step and went crashing into a display unit hit my nose fiercely against a metal tray and splitting the skin on my nose so that blood flowed profusely. I did not think I had broken anything but agreed that an ambulance b called who first checked that I had not been knock insomnious on hit myself more severely but confirmed that I would need to have the wound glued, was an expression not previously encountered. The ambulance came quickly but the process of being booked in to the District General, seeing a nurse seeing a doctor and seeing a nurse again took over two hours, one suspects because having a head injury they wanted plenty of time to ensure there were other consequences. I was given a card which listed the symptoms which if felt I should return. I had gone out for the paper around 10.30 and it was half past two when I returned by taxi, enjoying telling the tale on the journey.
However I had wasted half a day but thankful that the injury had not be worse. It was washing day, the ordinary washing of clothes for the week, washing the jacket and handkerchiefs separately and then a third wash of a cover of the settee because it is white and required washing through normal usage. I also did a dusting and a tidy planned for the day leaving the vacuuming and floors tomorrow and the bathroom for Thursday morning and then settled down to watching cricket on Sky TV!
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