Grounds committee is called in after match abandoned due to unfit pitch

NEWCASTLE & Hartshill's home game against Stone SP was abandoned in the ninth over.

- Chris Travers

Umpires Neil Davies and Phil Taylor called an early halt to play after deeming the pitch was unfit in Saturday's encounter.

Unpredictable bounce had seen Stone SP batsmen hit during the 8.5 overs of play before the match officials decided no further action would be possible.

Stone SP were 28-4 at the time having been asked to bat, with Warrick Fynn unbeaten on 15 and William Hobson having made 11. Rich Hagan took two wickets.

NSSCL chairman Dean Hodson said: "The game was abandoned due to an unfit pitch.

"Newcastle & Hartshill have now been referred to the grounds committee who will work with them."

At present, the game has been classed as an abandoned match on the league's website.

However, that could be altered once NSSCL officials have finished investigating the outcome.

League rules state: "If in the opinion of the umpires abandonment is due to inadequate preparation of the pitch prior to the game or insufficient efforts being made during the game, the umpires shall report the matter to the league manager who, in conjunction with the executive committee, may award maximum points to the away side."

In the matches that were played to a conclusion, Porthill Park slipped into the bottom two as their poor summer continued with a five-wicket loss at Alsager.

It’s now six defeats in 10 matches for Louis Allison’s side, who saw their rivals jump out of the relegation zone after their victory.

Porthill Park posted 182 all out in the formative stages of the contest thanks to Oliver Shirley's 45, 34 from Tom Steele and Ben Holt’s 30.

Asif Raza helped himself to 4-62 for the hosts, with Tom Bason weighing in with 3-36 and Manraj Johal adding a couple of scalps.