CONTROVERSY surrounded the North Wales Cricket League Premier Division clash between St Asaph and Hawarden Park last weekend.

The Saints were awarded the tie after Park skipper Ian Martin took his side off the field due to concerns over the conditions following rain throughout, which meant the visitors conceded the contest and the hosts given ten points for their efforts.

In addition, Hawarden were docked 15 points due to a breach of league rules, a result that sees them plummet to eighth place in the standings.

A St Asaph spokesman, said: “Their captain took his players off the field without the umpires’ permission, saying it was too dangerous because of the wet conditions.

“According to League rules conceding a match incurs a 15-point penalty and the other team (us in this instance) are awarded the win and get the average of the winning points for that Division for that day.

“Looking at the winning points in the other five Premier Division games yesterday that would give us 12 points. Presently we have only been awarded 10 points, but all of this will need to be confirmed and ratified by the League Management Committee so things are up in the air at the moment.”

The away side posted a total of 123 all out from 36 overs, with Jason Foulkes again playing a starring role with the ball to claim an impressive five wickets for the loss of 41 runs.

The title contenders lost two early wickets when Arif Javed and Nathanael Scott were removed for two and one, at which point Martin decided that conditions had deteriorated to a degree that it was no longer safe for his players in the field.

Another positive result in bizarre circumstances leaves Will Ryan’s men in third place ahead of their home clash with Brymbo on Saturday.