Village cricket: English teas back on the menu after re-vote

Cricket teas are back on the menu for village clubs after a vote to scrap the mid-innings feast was overturned by players hungry to hang onto the quintessentially English tradition.

The Sussex Cricket League voted late last week to discard the compulsory provision of meals, meaning sandwiches, sausage rolls and cakes were off the menu.

The decision of the league, which describes itself as the biggest in the world with 140 clubs and 335 teams, created a stir.

Some clubs said they were still prepared to provide teas and former England Test captain Michael Vaughan labelled it a “disgraceful decision”.

The league, based in the south of England, decided that a re-run was the fairest option given the closeness of the first result.

And in a statement on the league’s website on Wednesday, chairman Gary Stanley gave traditionalists the news they had been waiting for.

“I can now confirm to you that, following the re-vote, the proposal to remove the obligation of the home club to provide teas in the 2021 season has been defeated,” he said.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the rules around teas are therefore unchanged from current rules. This is of course subject to any restrictions that may be imposed due to Covid, which we hope will not be the case.”

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