IT was almost a case of squirrel stopped play during Builth 1sts’ home game against Brockhampton 3rds on Saturday.

The little furry rodent seemed to take a real shine to Builth’s 15-year-old spin bowler Arthur Davies during the match which saw the home side win convincingly.

Arthur who was waiting for his turn to bat, said the squirrel made a beeline for him and the other Builth batters sat by the boundary at the home side’s Garth Road pitch.

“The squirrel came up really close and was pestering us,” said Arthur. “He was trying to run up people’s trouser legs. It was quite funny. A couple of us tried to carry him to the woods but he kept coming back.Eventually he was sitting on my hand, he seemed really comfortable around people.”

Arthur said he and the other cricketers fed the squirrel some bird food and dog biscuits and eventually carried him further into the woods.

“We put him in a little shoebox,” added Arthur, who is studying for his GCSEs at Christ College in Brecon.

“When we took him further into the woods he didn’t come back but I saw him again after the game.”

In the match Arthur took two wickets for 24 as Brockhampton crumbled to 222 all out in reply to Builth’s massive 341-6.