BROMSGROVE Cricket Club has lodged a complaint to the English Cricket Board following alleged abuse towards their players by Banbury CC.

Boars captain Nick Husbands claimed his team was subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse when the two sides clashed in the National Knockout regional semi-final in Oxfordshire last Sunday.

"From the moment we went out to bat everything changed," he said. "Their support suddenly developed a lot of voice and started abusing our players.

"The batsmen on the pitch were getting seriously abused by the bowlers and the fielders and it got worse as the game went on. If a batsman was out he was abused as he went back to the dressing room.

"It really shouldn't be happening in cricket of this standard. The result was immaterial. It was by no means sour grapes, we lost fair and square.

"I have played cricket all over the country and I have never seen anything like it."

A letter of complaint was despatched to the ECB on Monday and the Boars are now waiting to hear the outcome.

Husbands also said the Banbury captain, Craig Haupt, didn't shake hands after the game or make eye contact with him.

Banbury chairman Martin Phillips added: "He (Husbands) was in the bar afterwards and so was I. He didn't say anything. It was a tense game and a highly charged finish."

The hosts batted first, making 116 in 43 overs thanks to two early wickets from Husbands and Jamie Campbell's 4-16.

Simon Keyte went early in Bromsgrove's reply before Paul Duffy and Nick Davies (31) took control.

The loss of Duffy (4) and Campbell (15) sparked a collapse with the visitors finally dismissed for 96 as the intensity increased.