Oh, that's just great...

Statement from Durham:

Durham CCC would like to clarify the timings of the information received regarding last night’s (Monday 7 July) postponed Twenty20 Cup quarter final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie at Riverside.

Timeline of Events

2.45pm – Durham CCC informed that game cannot go ahead and were asked by ECB not to open gates to spectators. Durham CCC then challenge the ECB’s decision and ask them to reconsider as the Club believe that the game should go ahead.

3.30pm – No confirmation from ECB is received by Durham CCC regarding its challenge and the decision is taken by the Club to open the gates for the safety and comfort of the spectators queuing outside the ground.

3.30 – 4.30pm A number of calls are exchanged between Durham CCC and officials at ECB.

4.23pm – A draft press release, announcing the postponement of the game is issued by ECB to Durham CCC. This press release is challenged by Durham CCC.

4.45pm – Durham CCC is asked by ECB to consider playing an exhibition match. Neither set of players are keen on this suggestion and given that it had started to rain by this time the ground was unfit and potentially unsafe to play on.

5.00pm – It was agreed by both sides not to risk the players in a meaningless match in adverse weather conditions. The ECB then insisted that the quarter final could not go ahead and issued a press release to this effect. Durham CCC then contacted the ECB Match Manager to request that an announcement be made over the PA system in inform spectators.

Durham CCC is hugely concerned at last night’s events partly because of the potential direct financial consequences but, more importantly, the damage to the reputation of Durham CCC and cricket, as a whole.

Durham CCC will argue to ECB that we should be able to proceed to Finals Day without having to replay a quarter final in what is already a very busy playing and travelling schedule.

So they were asked by the governing body to call the game off at 2.45pm and not to open the gates. The fact that Durham let people travel to the Riverside and enter the ground is entirely their doing then.

Sensible comments from Chris Adams about this game.

Suggested the game get replayed between Notts and Yorks, as Rafiq did nothing, and then get the game with Durham done.

JKLever wrote:

Statement from Durham:

Durham CCC would like to clarify the timings of the information received regarding last night’s (Monday 7 July) postponed Twenty20 Cup quarter final between Durham Dynamos and Yorkshire Carnegie at Riverside.

Timeline of Events

2.45pm – Durham CCC informed that game cannot go ahead and were asked by ECB not to open gates to spectators. Durham CCC then challenge the ECB’s decision and ask them to reconsider as the Club believe that the game should go ahead.

3.30pm – No confirmation from ECB is received by Durham CCC regarding its challenge and the decision is taken by the Club to open the gates for the safety and comfort of the spectators queuing outside the ground.

3.30 – 4.30pm A number of calls are exchanged between Durham CCC and officials at ECB.

4.23pm – A draft press release, announcing the postponement of the game is issued by ECB to Durham CCC. This press release is challenged by Durham CCC.

4.45pm – Durham CCC is asked by ECB to consider playing an exhibition match. Neither set of players are keen on this suggestion and given that it had started to rain by this time the ground was unfit and potentially unsafe to play on.

5.00pm – It was agreed by both sides not to risk the players in a meaningless match in adverse weather conditions. The ECB then insisted that the quarter final could not go ahead and issued a press release to this effect. Durham CCC then contacted the ECB Match Manager to request that an announcement be made over the PA system in inform spectators.

Durham CCC is hugely concerned at last night’s events partly because of the potential direct financial consequences but, more importantly, the damage to the reputation of Durham CCC and cricket, as a whole.

Durham CCC will argue to ECB that we should be able to proceed to Finals Day without having to replay a quarter final in what is already a very busy playing and travelling schedule.

So they were asked by the governing body to call the game off at 2.45pm and not to open the gates. The fact that Durham let people travel to the Riverside and enter the ground is entirely their doing then.

Not sure, ... after the bolt from the blue, 3 hours from play, they tried frantically to query and challenge it. You can blame them for not issuing a potential warning sooner, ... but late in the day.

"It was agreed by both sides not to risk the players in a meaningless match in adverse weather conditions."

Oh give me strength. Almost every match Johnny County Cricketer plays is meaningless. The chance to play any sort of game in front of crowd of a few thousand is more than they can even dream off for most of the season. What a pampered bunch of t*sspots. They should try getting real jobs.

A bit of paperwork then, the illegal immigrant line seems to be a bit of a red herring.

The logical conclusion would have been for Yorkshire to get a fine and a slapped wrist and go ahead with the match.

But now the ECB have cancelled a match on the afternoon it was scheduled to be played (having known about the transgression for a week) - it will now look stupid if it takes the logical decision and plays the match as normal. Will probably insist on a replay Yorks vs Notts, or Glam vs Durham, just to justify their own stupid decision.

Just to clarify some of the earlier comments on this thread - Rafiq was not scheduled to play in this game (he wasn't even in the same county). The ECB was reacting with usual speed to a match he played in 2 weeks ago...

Poor kid - he's only 17. Must feel like a right leper at the moment.

Whipping boy in a pit of incompetence.

Dello wrote:Poor kid - he's only 17. Must feel like a right leper at the moment.

You have to hope that someone at Yorkshire has taken him under their wing.

That lad now has cricketing immortality without having to achieve anything at the highest level. I'd be dead chuffed if I was him.

Eric Air Emu wrote:That lad now has cricketing immortality without having to achieve anything at the highest level. I'd be dead chuffed if I was him.

I like it.

Misen I don't particularly care what happens to my club in the wake of this miniscule oversight, to be honest I'm getting a bit stalled of travelling up and down the country to watch them play like t***s. I'm just annoyed by the OTT reaction of some people who'd like to see Yorkshire hung, drawn and quarted over it. Make no bones about it, Yorkshire have been desperately unlucky. Whatever it says on Rafiqs passport or whatever his personal circumstances are he was registered with Yorkshire as an academy player and the paperwork and everything else regarding that are in perfect order. Regardless of the club, promoting academy players to the 1st XI is as rare as rocking horse poo, but due to injuries and the ECB telling Vaughan he couldn't play Yorkshire called the kid up at very short notice to play in the first team far earlier than either Rafiq or Yorkshire could have ever expected. This isn't some superstar or top player that could make a difference we're talking about, it's a young lad drafted in at the last minute to make the numbers up. Would Yorkshire risk getting booted out of the competition by playing a 17 year old kid there primarily for the experience and to make up the numbers? Would they hell. It's a one off, a freak occurence, and, I'm almost certain that if Rafiq hadn't been drafted in to play against Notts at such short notice and he'd been allowed to develop like all the other academy players up and down the country before making the step up to the seniors the necessary paperwork would have been sorted out as a matter of course and nobody would have given a flying fig. Therefore getting arsey about it and wanting Yorkshire punished when all they've done is give a young boy a one off chance to play in the 1st team and gain some experience from it is harsh in the extreme. Mind you, that said, I'd be a tad disappointed if I found out all the other academy lads at Yorkshire had signed the form agreeing to abide by the ICC rules and regs.

Tell it like it is, Geoffrey.