Cricket Match Suspended After Crossbow Bolt Lands On The Field

Today’s County Championship cricket match between Surrey and Middlesex at the Oval ended in a draw after a metal-tipped crossbow bolt landed onto the field. No one was hurt, and police aren’t sure if it was even intentional.

Surrey cricketer Stuart Meaker mentioned the arrow after both teams left the pitch, and Twitter user @topmanjem had a photo of it:

The Guardian has a surprisingly thorough report on the matter, considering there’s still no suspect, with an excellent quote from one of the Surrey players:

“It was a pretty tasty arrow with a proper metal end,” said the Surrey captain, Gareth Batty, who was fielding about 25m away from where it landed. “I did archery as a kid and that was not a normal archery arrow. The umpires dealt with it very well. There were no questions asked – we went off very quickly. Someone saw it in flight, there was a noise when it landed but it happened so quick. It is a deadly weapon for sure, if it had hit someone it would have caused some serious damage. It just shows the world we live in.’

Police are considering the possibility that the bolt came from outside the stadium.

[ Guardian]

H/t to Chris and Josh