by Abhishek Mukherjee

Here is an unusual reason for a stoppage of a cricket match, from a Lancashire League match between Haslingden and Church.

Batting first in a rain-curtailed match, Church scored 104/4 in 31 overs. The innings was not without incident. While watching the game, a former chairman of Church fell ill and an ambulance had to be called.

Now Haslingden came out to bat. At around 3.30, Church wicketkeeper Sam Tucker noticed a man sneaking out of the Haslingden changing-room. He assumed it was a Haslingden official, so he did not raise the matter, but he kept on eye on the man.

Then, just when the man made an attempt to leave the ground, Tucker probably sensed something and informed the opposition batsmen.

The thief had stolen 12 iPhones from the jacket pockets.

One of the Haslingden cricketers was an off-duty police officer, so the action was prompt. Thankfully, one of the phones had the GPS trackers installed, so the operation went smoothly.

Lancashire Police announced that the 29-year-old culprit was from Doncaster, Yorkshire. There is no evidence as to whether he was on a mission to avenge a Roses match, or whether he had any affiliation with the YouTube account TechRax.

As for the match, Haslingden did not show any mercy. They won by 6 wickets with 13 balls to spare.

This happened on 15 June 2014.