A South African player who will play for Worcestershire this season walked out midway through a domestic final in his homeland before catching a flight to England.
Beyers Swanepoel, one of Worcestershire’s overseas players for the upcoming campaign, left the field “around the 43rd over” of the second innings of Sunday’s One-Day Cup final between his Lions team and their rivals the Titans to head to OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg to fly to England.
Swanepoel, according to a report by the South African outlet Times Live, had bowled his 10-over allocation, taking impressive figures of three for 44, but his departure left his team-mates in the lurch with the umpires refusing to allow them a substitute fielder in unusual circumstances. The Lions lost the game by just three wickets with one ball to spare, as the Titans chased down their target of 249.
Swanepoel’s team-mates were reportedly unaware that he was leaving the field to go to the airport, believing instead that he was injured, leading to “several animated discussions” with the umpires about the use of a substitute fielder. The Lions coaching staff were aware of the flight on the morning of the match, but expected he would leave the ground at 7pm, not two hours earlier.
On Monday morning, the Central Gauteng Lions Union, who run the Lions, confirmed they would launch an inquiry into Swanepoel’s exit.
“I’m just extremely disappointed with Beyers,” Jono Leaf-Wright, the Lions CEO said. “This is not the kind of conduct we as the Lions expect from our players. He has let down his team-mates and the union.”
The Lions were already without Russell Domingo, their head coach, who has headed to England (with permission) to take charge of Hampshire. He is expected to bring seamer Codi Yusuf with him to replace Jayden Seales, who is injured.
The new county season starts on Friday, with Swanepoel contracted for the entire Championship season with Worcestershire.
Swanepoel, 27, had a slightly underwhelming stint with Kent two years ago, but has an excellent first-class record, averaging 26.1 with the bat and 20.3 with the ball from 48 matches.