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Laws are a requirement for organised sport. They exist to give a framework for fair play which is essential to attract not only participants but also spectators, however sometimes they have unintended consequences, particularly if they are followed in strict order. Two such examples involving teams I support caused a stir on social media this weekend. Firstly on Sunday Gloucestershire’s county championship match at Durham was extended into a 4th day when the umpires decided the light was too bad for the home team to score the four runs required for victory so everyone came back the following morning to complete the match in about a minute and a half. Then on Monday at York Road the teams trotted out for the second half only for the referee to realise he’d played half a minute too little in the first half so he decided to resume with a Maidenhead United free kick which ended up going out for a Totton goal kick. https://x.com/duke_of_berks/status/2094471503697916070?s=20 Once taken the referee blew for half time, and the players lined up for the restart in the centre circle. Both situations could have been avoided with the application of the unwritten law of common sense, however in today’s litigious society you can forgive the officials for sticking to the letter rather than the spirit of the law. Ultimately neither decision affected the result and will in years to come probably be the only reason the fixtures are remembered, which after all is one of the main attractions of sport, the chance to say “do you remember when…”