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In Pictures: Soggy infield no boundary for sandbank cricket match

The annual Bramble Bank match takes place in the middle of the Solent off the Hampshire coast.
The annual Bramble Bank match takes place in the middle of the Solent off the Hampshire coast. The annual Bramble Bank match takes place in the middle of the Solent off the Hampshire coast.

Two teams of players have staged what is regarded as one of the more eccentric cricket matches of the season at a most unusual ground – in the middle of the sea.

The annual Bramble Bank match between members of the Royal Southern Yacht Club and the Island Sailing Club takes place in the middle of the Solent, when the low-water spring tide exposes a sandbank long enough to play a game.

The match has been played – conditions allowing – since the 1950s on the exposed bit of sand between the Hampshire coast and the Isle of Wight.

Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bramble Bank cricket match
Bramble Bank cricket match (Ben Birchall/PA)