In a rather bizarre incident in New Zealand, a player-umpire was repeatedly kicked by an opposition player during a club match.
The incident occurred during match between Horowhenua-Kapiti clubs Paraparaumu and Weraroa on Sunday and is understood to have been sparked by a decision from a Paraparaumu player-umpire, Stuff.co.nz quoted an eye-witness as saying that it was ‘absolute thuggery.’
“If that happened on the street it would be GBH [grievous bodily harm] so how come if it happens on the field it’s fine,” the unnamed witness said.
“He had a third kick at him before his team pulled him off.”
“I know exactly who did the kicking, everyone saw who it was.”
Another unnamed witness labelled the Weraroa players’ behaviour “disgusting”.
“I believe his nose is broken then another three or four Levin [Weraroa] players joined in and proceeded to kick and punch him”.
New Zealand Cricket public affairs manager Richard Boock said, “While we are still awaiting details, NZC views any type of physical assault in cricket as repugnant and utterly unacceptable. We will await the results of the investigation before commenting further.”
The police also confirmed the incident but no charges have been laid by the victim so far.