Cricket match abandoned after bull storms pitch

Image source, Martin Oswell / PA Image caption, The bull eventually left "of its own accord", the cricket club director said Published 6 hours ago A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull stormed the playing field and charged at players. The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield Cricket Club was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground. Club director Martin Oswell said it was an important match, adding: "At first it was quite novel, it was quite funny, but we never thought it was going to impact on our game being abandoned." Oswell said the bull's owner drove a cow to the cricket club in an effort to entice the animal off the field, but to no avail. Police were eventually called to the scene before the bull left "of its own accord", he said. Oswell said the young bull, probably weighing about 800kg (126 stone), had escaped from a farm and travelled about a mile (1.6km) to the playing field where it arrived at around 15:00 BST. "We couldn't get rid of it," he said. "There was no chance that the game was going to restart before the cut-off time." Image source, Martin Oswell / PA Image caption, The cricket match was stopped and eventually abandoned "The farmer who owned the bull arrived at the ground and tried at first to sort of cajole it and get it into a pen, but it failed," Oswell said. "The bull was very frightened, it was spooked." He said there were safety concerns as the bull could be seen charging at players as farmers attempted to recapture it. "Two farmers tried to stop the bull and it actually hit one of them," Oswell said. "He was OK but I mean the beast probably weighed about 800kg. "It was a juvenile bull, incredibly fit, athletic, quite frankly, it was quite dangerous." Image source, Martin Oswell / PA Image caption, Multiple attempts were made to remove the bull from the playing field Burnopfield Cricket Club had scored 226 runs against Hetton Lyons when the match was interrupted. "We're second top of the North East Premier League, so it was an important game for us," Oswell said. "And it was a game that I think we had a really good chance of winning. "It would have been a really, really good game of cricket." Follow BBC North East on X , external , Facebook , external , Nextdoor and Instagram , external . Get in touch Do you have a story suggestion for BBC Wear? Contact form Contact form Related topics Burnopfield More like this How a missing capybara has captured imaginations Published 28 March Wallaby spotted hopping around streets. Video, 00:00:19 Wallaby spotted hopping around streets Published 23 November 2020 Watch: Runaway cows dent cars in village. Video, 00:00:44 Watch: Runaway cows dent cars in village Published 29 August 2023 Related internet links Burnopfield Cricket Club