A game in which both batsmen refused to face further hostilities and walked off the pitch was the talk of North-East cricket last night.

It happened on Saturday in the Durham County League derby between Etherley and Evenwood. Lee Gowland, and Chris Renshaw, batting at two and three for Etherley, had both been hit on the body by opening bowlers Deighton Butler and Johnny Maughan.

When the umpires declined to intervene, the batsmen headed for the pavilion. Gowland, an accountant in Hartlepool, claimed that he had to work on Monday morning and could no longer afford the risk.

After a near ten-minute delay, the match continued with new batsmen Yaras Tillakaratne and Stephen Crane - who smashed 80 in ten overs from the same bowlers.

When Gowland was allowed to return, he was out for 18. When 18-year-old Renshaw came back, he was mischievously advised by opposing fielders to get his helmet because Butler was returning to the attack. The Etherley man threw his bat to the ground, kicked it, swore at the umpire and left again.

Etherley skipper Danny Hinge admits it shouldn't have happened. "You can't have a situation in sport where you say 'I'm not as good as they are' so you quit.

"Look at the Open golf championship, whoever had heard of the guy who won? That's the wonderful thing about sport - my idea is you never quit."

The Durham County League has now asked for a full report from umpire Bob Emerson, who insisted yesterday that both bowlers had been within the laws of the game.

Under the heading "Fair and unfair play", Law 42 states: "The bowling of fast, short pitched balls is dangerous and unfair if the umpire at the bowler's end considers that by their repetition and taking into account their length, height and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury on the striker irrespective of the protective equipment he may be wearing." The relative skill of the striker, it adds, shall be taken into consideration.

"The bowling was just short of a length, coming up into their ribs every now and again. They bowl like that every week" said Mr Emerson, a former batsman with Crook, North Bitchburn and Witton-le-Wear.

"There's a rule in our league concerning balls over shoulder height, but nothing got that high. We couldn't no ball them just because the batsmen didn't like it.

"When I was batting we regularly faced that sort of thing without helmets. Desmond Collymore, who was professional at Hetton Lyons, bowled every ball like that. We grew up on it."

League chairman Peter Metcalfe remembers Leadgate pro Dennis Hewitt, a Guyanan with a similarly fearsome reputation.

"Lads would rather go shopping with their wives than face him on a Saturday afternoon, but for both batsmen to walk off is unheard of in cricket and rather embarrassing for the league.

"You can't legislate for it, so what do you do? You can't say that quick bowlers must bowl at half pace against lesser batsmen, only that they keep within the laws.

"It's a very difficult problem but if they were so unhappy, the guys should have shouldered arms and given their wicket away, rather than walking off."

Mr Metcalfe had chance to watch Evenwood's opening attack first hand the following day, when they played Ushaw Moor in the League Cup final.

"It was really fierce, awesome stuff. Ushaw Moor couldn't put a bat on it but they stayed on the pitch. I don't think those two should have been allowed back."

Danny Hinge described Butler, Evenwood's West Indian profession, as the equivalent of fast-medium in the first class game. John Maughan, with Evenwood almost 20 years, was reckoned "as quick as anyone at local level."

Though they expect repercussions from the league, Etherley plan no action against their own players. "Neither batsman asked permission, they just walked," said Hinge. "Chris just got changed and said he was going home. I think they should have both stayed put.

"Our pro's reaction was that he just wanted to get at them and it's the sort of thing you expect, you take the fight to the opposition, and he and Stephen Crane did very well.

"I didn't think that Evenwood showed them too much sympathy, but if we'd have been bowling our attitude would have been the same. They tried to wind Chris up and they succeeded.

"It was an unfortunate incident but there was no issue afterwards. Evenwood stayed for a few hours as they always do; we're friends."

Even before Saturday's unprecedented events, Danny Hinge had a mention in today's Backtrack. Reporting Bulldog Billy Teesdale's brief retirement from umpiring, Friday's column recounted a story on the Durham County League website in which an Etherley player - identified only as Sillymidon - had scored 70-odd thanks to Billy's sportsmanship. Though we surmised that Sillymidon might have been Danny, he rang early doors to deny it. "People would have known you were wrong, anyway," he said. "I've never scored 70-odd in my life."

A rather more peaceable cricket match took place last weekend between the Orkneys and the Shetlands, colourfully reported in yesterday's Telegraph and drawn to the column's attention by Darlington and District League veteran John Laundy.

His son Stuart, once familiar with Ingleton and Haughton, was at Orkney's non-striking end, the Kirkwall ferry parked out the back, spectators conspicuous in absence.

The crowd was precisely one, says the Telegraph, and she a Shetlander who'd accompanied her old feller principally because the Shetlands haven't a Woolworths and Orkney has.

For chiefly meteorological reasons - it gets awfully foggy up there - it was the first time the islands had played each other for seven years.

Stuart, 36, was Reuter's bureau chief in Dubai. Now he's editor of the Orcadian - "quite a contrast," says his dad, straight bat. He scored 18 and claimed 3-19 in the O's victory.

Dad, who taught him all he knows, is 64 and still plays for Ingleton - "but only," he insists, "when they're short."

The Methodist chapel at Westgate-in-Weardale seats 500, probably more than the population. It was full for John Noddings's remembrance service.

John, as we reported, died 11 days ago during a charity football match at Tow Law. He was 57, left his native Tow Law 34 years ago, died on the field where he first played competitive football.

Before the service they played Going Back to Tow Law, a Mark Knopfler song, written for reasons unknown. John would have liked that.

"He was never the sort of guy who gave 100 per cent, he always gave 110 per cent at least," said Charlie Donaghy, his sports master at Tow Law secondary modern and the match organiser.

Among the mourners were six or seven former Evenwood Town colleagues - Tony Monkhouse, Bob Tookey, Bob Black, John Suddes, the indomitable Derek Newton - from the team which won the Northern League in 1970 and 1971.

Charlie delivered a moving eulogy. "It was a bit like the old wide west movies," he said. "He died with his boots on."

The first Frenchman to play in the English football leagues (Backtrack, July 18) was Didier Six, at Aston Villa.

Today back to the demon bowlers of Evenwood. Danny Hinge claims to have been hit ("without complaining") six times in an over by an Evenwood pro who went on to play for the West Indies and is now in the county championship.

Readers are invited to name him. The fast track again on Friday.