‘Pathetic home owners’: Piers Morgan furious as cricket club forced to cancel adult matches after complaints

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England Men’s test captain Ben Stokes is amongst the big names who has come out in support of the club

A village cricket club in Dorset has been forced to stop adult matches on its home ground- due to complaints from neighbours. Colehill Cricket Club has been in existence since 1905 but risks being folded following the complaints.

The club has launched a petition calling on Colehill Sports and Social Club committee to reverse their decision to end adult cricket at the club. At the time of publication, it had over 26,000 signatures. 

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They hope to find a “practical solution” to make sure adult matches can keep on being played at the ground. The club has hosted games since 1905.

The club has taken action to reduce risks to nearby properties, according to the BBC. These include moving pitches over to one side of the square and making a rule where and ball hit over the fence would score no runs instead of six.

In a statement, the club said: "There are many issues which the committee have to deal with in the running of the club but in recent times upwards of 75 per cent of these relate to adult cricket. We don’t believe it is viable to continue with adult cricket and face constant complaints and claims from those neighbours who choose not to embrace us."

Ben Stokes, who has been captain of the England Men’s cricket team since last summer, wrote on Twitter that he had to check “to see if it was April 1,” when finding out about the story he found it so unbelievable.

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Broadcaster Piers Morgan has also put his support behind the petition. He wrote on Twitter: “Imagine buying a house bordering a cricket ground then moaning about the odd flying ball? These pathetic home-owners should be told to stick their complaints up their whiny killjoy backsides.”

Youth matches for both boys and girls will continue to be played at the ground at both local and county level.

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