Havant captain Ben Walker insisted he had ‘a duty of care’ to his players after calling a halt to his team’s ECB Southern Premier League defeat against Lymington.
Walker made the decision to ‘retire’ tailender Julian Atkins, therefore ending the game, after the player - batting at ten - had been struck twice on the helmet.
Walker had earlier seen young Charlie Whitfield forced to retire at the end of the 13th over after being hit on the hand, leaving him unable to grip the bat, writes Simon Carter, The News, Portsmouth.
Walker came onto the pitch to talk to Atkins after he had been hit the second time, by a delivery from former Hampshire all-rounder and current Northants professional Gareth Berg.
Former Hampshire all-rounder Berg took 4-13 in Lymington's 167-run thrashing of Havant.
‘I wouldn’t say it was hostility, but Julian had taken two flush hits, which can happen at any level of cricket,’ Walker told The News.
‘He wanted to carry on, but I could see he was visibly shaken. You could see it had rocked him. As the captain, I have a duty of care to my players. I was not going to allow him to stay out there and potentially take another blow.
Damage
The game was over, we had been outplayed from the start, we weren’t going to save the game. There was nothing to gain (from batting on) so I just thought ‘enough is enough.’
Whitfield had been struck by a delivery from New Zealander James Hartshorn, who plays Plunket Shield cricket for Wellington.
Hartshorn ended with 1-36 off 14 overs, but it was Berg - who played the first five games of the Championship season for Northants this year at the age of 41 - who did the most damage with figures of 10.4-5-13-4.
‘Two first class bowlers,’ said Walker. ‘You don’t come across too many attacks like that (in the Southern Premier League).
Asked to chase 284 for victory at Havant Park, Walker experimented with seamer Richard Jerry as an opening batter. It didn’t work, as he was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Berg.
Berg then removed Pete Hopson before claiming the big wicket of Chris Stone. The third highest run scorer in the Premier Division this year, Stone was also out for a duck as Havant slid to 34-3.
Harry Gadd top scored with 34 before Walker called a halt to the innings at 116 when Atkins – a loyal Havant clubman, essentially a third teamer but always happy to fill in when needed - was hit for the second time off the fourth ball of the 49th over.
Walker made the decision to ‘retire’ tailender Julian Atkins, therefore ending the game, after the player - batting at ten - had been struck twice on the helmet.
Walker had earlier seen young Charlie Whitfield forced to retire at the end of the 13th over after being hit on the hand, leaving him unable to grip the bat, writes Simon Carter, The News, Portsmouth.
Walker came onto the pitch to talk to Atkins after he had been hit the second time, by a delivery from former Hampshire all-rounder and current Northants professional Gareth Berg.
Former Hampshire all-rounder Berg took 4-13 in Lymington's 167-run thrashing of Havant.
‘I wouldn’t say it was hostility, but Julian had taken two flush hits, which can happen at any level of cricket,’ Walker told The News.
‘He wanted to carry on, but I could see he was visibly shaken. You could see it had rocked him. As the captain, I have a duty of care to my players. I was not going to allow him to stay out there and potentially take another blow.
Damage
The game was over, we had been outplayed from the start, we weren’t going to save the game. There was nothing to gain (from batting on) so I just thought ‘enough is enough.’
Whitfield had been struck by a delivery from New Zealander James Hartshorn, who plays Plunket Shield cricket for Wellington.
Hartshorn ended with 1-36 off 14 overs, but it was Berg - who played the first five games of the Championship season for Northants this year at the age of 41 - who did the most damage with figures of 10.4-5-13-4.
‘Two first class bowlers,’ said Walker. ‘You don’t come across too many attacks like that (in the Southern Premier League).
Asked to chase 284 for victory at Havant Park, Walker experimented with seamer Richard Jerry as an opening batter. It didn’t work, as he was dismissed for a four-ball duck by Berg.
Berg then removed Pete Hopson before claiming the big wicket of Chris Stone. The third highest run scorer in the Premier Division this year, Stone was also out for a duck as Havant slid to 34-3.
Harry Gadd top scored with 34 before Walker called a halt to the innings at 116 when Atkins – a loyal Havant clubman, essentially a third teamer but always happy to fill in when needed - was hit for the second time off the fourth ball of the 49th over.
Berg had earlier hit 61 off 71 balls as Lymington posted a daunting 283 at The Park.
Ryan Scott reached his third SPL century - and his first since 2018 - before he was caught by Harry Gadd off his brother Freddie’s bowling for exactly 100. He hit ten fours.
After Kamran Dhariwal had struck 53, Scott and Berg added 118 for the fifth wicket.
Havant remain fourth despite their 167-run thrashing, with Lymington now just four points behind them with five weeks of ‘white ball’ 50-over matches remaining.
Ryan Scott reached his third SPL century - and his first since 2018 - before he was caught by Harry Gadd off his brother Freddie’s bowling for exactly 100. He hit ten fours.
After Kamran Dhariwal had struck 53, Scott and Berg added 118 for the fifth wicket.
Havant remain fourth despite their 167-run thrashing, with Lymington now just four points behind them with five weeks of ‘white ball’ 50-over matches remaining.