Cricket rivals battle it out on Solent sandbank pitch
- Published
Spectators have gathered in boats to watch a cricket match on a sandbank in the middle of the Solent.
Island Sailing Club beat Royal Southern Yacht Club by one run in the light-hearted challenge held on Bramble Bank.
The annual game has taken place at the same location since the 1950s, with the teams taking it in turn to win.
It relies on the low-water spring tide exposing the sandbar for long enough to play.
The 50-minute match began with a blessing from Rev Andrew Poppe, vicar at St Mary the Virgin and Holy Trinity churches in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
"It was a wonderful, wholly eccentric and very wet game," he said.
"The conditions were at times challenging, as they are at Lord's sometimes, with the players waist-high in water."
He added that Hamble's Royal Southern Yacht Club "were generous in their giving up of the trophy this year" to their Cowes-based rivals, who won the match by 80 runs to 79.
Bramble Bank can be a troublesome navigational hazard for ships in the Solent.
Last year the car transporter ship Hoegh Osaka hit the sandbank and in November 2008 it caused the QE2 liner to run aground.