No longer does it remain rare to witness intruders in the form of animals during a live game of cricket. We have heard of all sorts of incidents holding up a cricket match, but an owl comfortably taking its seat on the cricket stumps is as rare as hen’s teeth.
This incident occurred during the on-going Durham Cricket League in England. The barn owl abandoned a game between Castle Eden 1st XI and Seaham Park 1st XI as it swooped in to brings chaos to the pitch.
Steven Franklin, a 25-year-old sportsman was looking for his missing pet owl named Shadow, until he realised that his domestic bird had joined the bat and ball game.
The owl managed to escape from its aviary and quite comfortably made its way down to the ground - Castle Eden Cricket Club, where it landed on the cricket equipment. Several pictures of the bird were captured by Peter McGlasham, who was among the spectators to watch his son play at his home ground.
The owner of Shadow, who had adopted it only four weeks before this incident, came across pictures of his pet on Facebook and noticed that it looked very similar to his pet owl. The owner, named Steven, was then contacted by the stadium authorities and informed of where the pet bird could be retrieved.
Steven, who also owns a dog, cat, Harris hawk, and goshawk among others was quoted saying, “I was out looking for him all over the place but couldn't find him anywhere, but people were posting pictures on Facebook of him at the industrial estate nearby and at the Black Bull pub in Old Shotton.”
Steven later said that he had no idea of Shadow’s fondness for cricket, and given that it was tame by personality, he never expected it to land on the stumps of a cricket game.
Spectators at the Castle Eden Cricket Club's laughed and joked about it, thinking that little 'Dickie Bird' had made his return to the crease. The wicketkeeper for The Seaham Park, who was sporting a pair of the keeper’s padded gloves, took hold of the bird but it flew away before they could reach the clubhouse.
The pictures on Facebook helped the pet and its owner reunite.
While this was not the first of its kind incident on a cricket field, the pictures of the owl seated on the stumps tickled the funny bone.
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