Cricketer won't face action over football boots on pitch

KELBURNE wicket-keeper Sandy Strang will not face disciplinary action over his wearing of football boots in a match last weekend, after neither the umpires nor opponents East Kilbride mentioned the issue in their official reports to Cricket Scotland.

However, East Kilbride have written to the governing body to ask them to pass a ruling against such footwear, which they say causes unnecessary damage to pitches.

"We've got nothing against Sandy, nothing against Kelburne, and we're not trying to make waves here," East Kilbride president Brian Kampmann said. "We're just trying to express our deep unhappiness.

"Our captain did not include our complaint in our match report as he said there was nowhere to include it, so we have written separately to Cricket Scotland. We want a ruling to say that boots like these will not be worn.

"We don't think it's right that football boots should be worn on a football pitch. And we have a right to refuse people who want to play on our ground with these boots on."

Members of the East Kilbride team complained unofficially about Strang's footwear during the Championship match. The wicket-keeper, whose weekly Scotsman column appears above, approached one of the umpires and offered to change his boots, but was told that would be unnecessary.

Cricket Scotland confirmed yesterday that the report from the umpires made no mention of inappropriate footwear or untoward behaviour, and that, combined with the same omission from the East Kilbride report, would normally spell an end to the matter. But, while Strang is in the clear, and free for the time being to continue wearing his white Adidas football boots, a future ruling on impermissible footwear remains a possibility provided East Kilbride receive a groundswell of support from other clubs.