I AM a supporter of Elton Cricket Club and am amazed at the recent decision made by the Bolton Association.

Elton have been docked 14 points for agreeing to a decision allegedly made by the umpires, to start the home game against Golborne at 4.20pm.

Apparently all games have to be started by 4pm. Although the ground was fit to play on by 3.50, the umpires allowed the teams to have tea before play.

Elton won the game and gained 20 points. They have now had that rescinded to six points for a no-result.

The league then bottled out of making a decision on the game by asking the team representatives to vote on whether the result should stand. As all the reps are from teams lower in the league than Elton, it was no great surprise when they voted for the win to be cancelled.

Several points arise from the league's action.

1, What would they have done if Elton had either lost or drawn the game and ended up with less than 6 points?

2. What would they have done if the game was between the two bottom teams?

3. The Umpires are there to enforce the laws of cricket and the league rules. If they make a mistake during a game the result will still stand as the umpire is always right. Surely the result should therefore have stood in this case as well.

4, Why did the League back away from making a decision and leave it to the team reps, where a decision against Elton was a certainty?

Neil McAuley

via e-mail