by Abhishek Mukherjee

Lancashire were pushing for a win that day at Old Trafford. Cork Dominic had broken down, and there was always the chance of James Anderson being called up on national duty (and getting replaced midway), but they still had Muttiah Muralitharan.

Kent were 58/3 at lunch on Day 3. They needed another 121 to make Lancashire bat again. At the crease were Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens.

Now, shortly after play resumed, they heard a commotion of sorts from the dressing room. The confused cricketers looked up to watch the pavilion being evacuated. Play had to be stopped, but no apparent reason could be traced.

The spectators had already seen smoke emerge from the pavilion. The blaring of the fire engine alarms confirmed their suspicions. The firemen soon disappeared into the pavilion.

The culprit turned out to be a pot of overcooked gravy. The smoke from the gravy had set the fire alarm off. This was apparently not the first time the engines had rushed to Old Trafford during a match. A fire officer revealed a cricketer had burnt his toast in the dressing-room.

Unfortunately, Kent could not save the match. Murali (4/72) ran through them, and Lancashire won by 8 wickets.

This happened on 18 June 2007.