(posted 7987 days ago)Sport - Telegraph
Friday 14 June 2002Kent go from one jam to another
By D J Rutnagur at the Oval (Filed: 13/06/2002)Kent (153 & 79-1) trail Surrey (361) by 129 runs
A burst water main in the vicinity of Hyde Park Corner and the broad bat of Ally Brown subjected Kent to intense agony yesterday. Brown, unbeaten with 49 overnight, had boosted Surrey to a commanding lead of 208 when he was last out for 188, his 29th first-class century.
So widespread and extensive was the gridlock created by the ruptured water main, with another blockage on the Vauxhall Bridge Road adding to the chaos, that it took the Kent party, travelling in five cars, the best part of four hours to complete the seven-mile journey from their hotel in Bayswater to Kennington.
The only two members of their team who were present at the Oval for the start of play were the captain, David Fulton, who had stayed the night in his own home in Blackheath, and Ed Smith, who got out of one of the marooned cars and took the tube.
Barry Dudleston and John Steele, the umpires, who are house guests in north London, had begun their respective journeys early and heard the traffic news on their car radios in time to seek alternative routes.
When Matthew Fleming conveyed to them by mobile phone that it had taken him two hours covering two miles, the umpires were left in no doubt that the players would not make it in time and, there being no provision in the regulations for the inevitable situation, they sought briefing from Alan Fordham, the ECB's cricket operations manager.
They were told to treat Kent's plight as an extenuating circumstance, rearrange the hours of play for the day and make up lost time by extending the remaining two days. The recommended starting time was half an hour after the arrival of the last players.
Kent will now have to bat with much resolve if they are to escape unscathed. Rob Key made an early exit, playing across the line, but Fulton and Ed Smith held the fort until bad light stopped play with 29 balls remaining.
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