The age-old tradition of providing cricket teas survived a narrow escape last month as at one point 1st Central Sussex Cricket League members voted to make it voluntary to provide one. Any club is entitled to propose changes to the following seasons playing conditions and one club proposed clubs should no longer be obliged to provide teas for their visitors. On the night of the AGM the proposal was carried by 104-85, a surprising result, quickly amplified when Times journalist Matt Chorley retweeted the result. The next day the story was featured on Good Morning Britain, Times Radio and Have I Got News For You. The Horsted Keynes Pavlova was trending on Twitter.

The Hurstpierpoint Cricket Whatsapp group sprang into life, registering their indignation and outrage and all being firmly in the ‘#teamainers’ camp, being rightly proud of the standard of tea and welcome they provide every weekend at the club.

Attention was then turned to quite how this result was achieved; it emerged that clubs who abstained or did not vote had their votes counting as voting FOR the proposal. The league hastily re-arranged the vote with the new result being 85-114 against.

When asked about the issue, Hurstpierpoint CC club Chairman, Kenton Green confirmed the club had voted to keep teas and had anyway already committed to providing full teas for next season and are pleased that position was reversed.