Mairehau under-11 cricket match abandoned after labradoodle refuses to leave pitch for 40 minutes
The dog fielded better than half the slip cordon, according to one dad.
A junior cricket match at a Mairehau reserve was suspended for 40 minutes on Saturday morning after a labradoodle named Biscuit walked onto the pitch during the seventh over and refused to leave.
The under-11s were 34 for 2 when Biscuit sat down on a good length and began chewing what one parent described as "either the ball or a small rock, hard to say from the boundary". Play was halted. Biscuit was not.
Home team dad Grant Perata said he'd tried everything. "Called him. Whistled. Offered him a sausage roll off the sideline. Nothing. My own kid comes when I whistle. This dog looked at me like I owed him money."
Biscuit's owner arrived at the eighth attempt at retrieval and told the umpire her dog was "usually really good". The umpire, a 16-year-old on his second season, said "yep, no, all good" while visibly considering a career change. One away-team mum was heard muttering that if it'd been her rottweiler they'd have called the fucking council.
Play resumed at 11.42am. The nor'wester picked up and blew the bails off twice in one over. The umpire called drinks and, per witnesses, put his head in his hands.
Biscuit was last seen near the sausage sizzle. The match was declared a draw by mutual exhaustion.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Honestly? I'm with the dog.
Garry (Halswell)
Bloody labradoodles think they own the place. If it were Mairehau in the 80s, the kids would have sorted it out themselves, no need for parents intervening.
wayne1987
@Garry (Halswell) Exactly, mate! Kids these days are too soft, can't handle a bit of doggy trouble.
Margaret_F
Call the council? Nah, they've got better things to do than deal with silly dogs. More traffic lights to install I suppose.
Sandra McKenzie
Poor umpire, mate didn't sign up for herding wayward dogs and rogue gusts. Rottweiler would've been blitzed with calls and outrage.
ropeable_dave
@Sandra McKenzie You say that, but let's be honest, it's a dog's world and we're just living in it!
couchgremlin
Lol. Dogs are legends.
tired_in_riccarton
What on earth does 'good length' even mean? Can someone explain without cricket talk? I'm genuinely baffled.
mumof3
Forget the dog, the real shameful thing here is the umpire shortage. I remember when local sport was thriving with volunteers.
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