The England and Wales Cricket Board has issued an apology for the chaotic conclusion to Warwickshire's Twenty20 Cup quarter-final against Surrey at the Oval on Monday night.
Umpires David Constant and Alan Jones erroneously informed Surrey that Warwickshire required three runs to win off the final ball of the match.
They then compounded their error by informing Surrey that they had won after Warwickshire failed, by one run, to overhaul their Duckworth Lewis-adjusted target. In reality the match had been tied and a bowl-out should have ensued.
Surrey, perhaps understandably, originally refused to take part and had to be threatened with elimination before they relented. The on-pitch arguments that lasted for more than 30 minutes did the game no good at all.
An ECB statement read: "ECB and umpires concerned apologise to all for the confusion. In a pressurised situation the umpires made a mistake in informing players that if Warwickshire scored one run less than the D-L target Surrey would win.
"The Twenty20 Cup regulations clearly state that when a D-L target has been set, a side batting second scoring one less than the target score results in a tie.
"As soon as the problem was established the umpires consulted with ECB as to whether to apply the correct regulation and order a bowlout or to adhere to the faulty advice that had been given to the players.
"It was concluded that the correct regulation should be applied and that a bowl-out should take place."
Is an apology enough? It wasn't for Graham Wagg or Keith Piper and they certainly did not make cricket look as amateurish as the ECB did on Monday night. If players behaved in such negligent fashion they would be found to have brought the game into disrepute.
The umpires, however, have suffered enough. Constant and Jones are immensely experienced and well-intentioned, and will be mortified by their error. They are highly unlikely to make the same mistake again. Further censure is unnecessary.
There is, however, a case for punishing Surrey for failing to adequately inform spectators of important match information. They announced that the last over would have to start by 8.16pm but no explanation was broadcast to inform the crowd of 9,000 why the six-run penalty had been waived. Spectators deserve better. It is a sad indictment of a professional sport that this did not happen.
Surrey's behaviour was ugly. They snarled and sneered their way through the match and at one stage their captain, Mark Ramprakash, threw his bat down in disgust. They may have swagger but they lack class.
Warwickshire were, without doubt, unfortunate. Apart from the six-run penalty they would have been awarded had the umpires been stronger, the final delivery to Dewald Pretorius should also have been called a no-ball as it was bowled above hip height.
To their credit, however, the club have dismissed the suggestion that they might 'appeal' against the result. That is a sensible response.
No-one wants to see the sport dragged into the courts and Warwickshire are the only party involved in the episode to emerge with dignity intact. There are many things more important than winning and losing cricket matches.
