Cricket players and fans were sent home for an early tea when umpires failed to show at a leading league match.

Northern Premier League teams Darwen and Lancaster were stumped on Saturday when match officials went on strike amid complaints about previous discipline problems at both clubs.

Cricketers and supporters turned up at Darwen cricket ground at 1pm clad in whites and oblivious to the umpires' one-day boycott.

Darwen chairman Peter Lamster says he was puzzled by the umpires' decision, which came without warning and left the club several hundred pounds out of pocket for caterers, bar staff and scorers pay.

"We thought it was an admin blip or worse a car crash. When we found out the real reason why the umpires had not shown up it was embarrassing," he told the Citizen.

He says his club has no problem with Lancaster or with the umpires and denies Darwen have done anything wrong.

"There have been incidents in the past which have been dealt with. As far as I am concerned we have a clean slate."

Lancaster Cricket Club sec-retary Raymond Cunningham says his team had made a two-hour round trip without playing so much as an over, and he is now deciding whether to seek legal advice.

Meanwhile, umpires due to officiate over the clubs' second teams game at Lancaster also failed to turn up. But the match went ahead - until rain stopped play - after substitutes were rustled up.

League chairman John Cooper has confirmed the decision was taken by the Umpires Federation as a form of protest.

Mr Cooper says: "Umpires were not allocated to the matches because of a history of problems at the two clubs... I do not want to inflame the situation by making any further comments until we know exactly why this happened. This is a local matter that needs sorting out."

Premier League officials now plan to meet with the Umpires Federation to discus the matter.