A runaway bull forces Burnopfield to abandon a cricket match.

A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull ran across the playing field and charged at the players.

A North East Premier League match at Burnopfield Cricket Club was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground.

The club’s director Martin Oswell said it was a crucial match, “It was very novel at first, it was very funny, but we didn’t think it would affect the game leaving.”

Oswell said the bull’s owner drove a cow to the cricket club to chase the animal off the field, but to no avail. Police were eventually called to the scene before the bull left “of its own accord,” he said.

Oswell said the young bull, which probably weighed around 800kg (126 stone), escaped from the farm and traveled about a mile (1.6km) to the playground around 15:00 BST.

“We couldn’t get rid of it.”

There was no chance for the game to restart before it was interrupted.