Cricket fall-out: Clydesdale supremo hits back at 'bottle' claims

Jul 2 2009 Matthew Leslie

CLYDESDALE'S acting chairman, Mike Stanger, has hit back at claims the Titwood side 'bottled out' of their cup clash with Poloc.

The south siders went through to the next round of the Scottish Cup after Poloc withdrew in protest over Dale's refusal to play on what they felt to be an unsafe pitch.

Poloc have claimed the pitch was safe to play on but Stanger has revealed the Shawholm side emailed Clydesdale of the possibility that there might be problems with the track.

He said: "Firstly, we express profound regret the Scottish Cup match between us did not take place.

"Indeed, it was Poloc, in an email earlier that week, who alerted us to a 10k run in Pollok Park that day, but that 'the bigger threat is the weather and the ground condition'.

"But it should be noted that Clydesdale's captain (Kasim Farid) made no observation about the overall condition of the pitch.

"He pointed out the blockholes left over from the previous match played on the pitch did not appear to have been repaired, and expressed concern at the possibility of injury to fast bowlers.

"Clydesdale has four fast bowlers and our ability to challenge for honours would be compromised if any of them turned an ankle or was unable to play in one or more subsequent matches.

"We did NOT 'refuse to play' on that pitch - in cricket this is beyond a captain's powers and it is the responsibility of the umpires, who have the option to delay the start of the game to enable some attempt at repairs to be made, or to play on another pitch if available.

"In the event, it was the umpires who decided that the condition of these footholes made the pitch unsuitable for play.

"We understand that Poloc decided that Sunday to have a net practice on the pitch in question.

"It would be normal practise after such use to carry out any necessary repairs to the pitch before it was used again, and it is certainly not clear from The Glaswegian's picture whether that had been done before it was taken.

"Our captain for the West League Cup match on the following Wednesday evening presumed that such repairs had been undertaken."

Stanger also refuted suggestions from Poloc that Clydesdale's players of Scots-Pakistani origin insisted on the call-off in order to watch Pakistan play in the World Twenty/20 final on TV.

He added: "We are mystified that Poloc felt the need to make an issue out of the ethnicity of many of our players, which goes against the grain of both our clubs' contributions to race relations on the south side of Glasgow.

"We are sorry that Poloc felt offended to the extent that they withdrew from the competition, and we do not like making cup progress in this way.

"But we utterly reject any suggestion that Clydesdale acted in any way other than in the interests of a sporting environment in which players of both sides could perform with complete safety and confidence."