The Oval on Thursday was "evacuated and players were forced to flee the pitch" when an arrow from a crossbow was "fired into" the cricket ground in the middle of a Surrey-Middlesex match, according to Collins, Vonow & Forrester of THE SUN. Witnesses said that they "saw top players flee when the metal bolt flew from outside the stadium and landed on the pitch during the game." Armed police "flocked" to the 25,000-capacity venue, with Met Police saying that they were keeping an "open mind" around motive -- "but it was not believed to be terrorism-related." Freelance journalist Ben Kosky said that the arrow "landed onto the strip adjacent to the wickets." The arrow was "fired from outside of the ground" which led to an announcement around the stadium saying, "On the advice of our security team -- please take cover. We urge you to move inside." A police helicopter was "overheard." Surrey player Stuart Meaker wrote on Twitter: "We have just officially gone off the field because a metal tipped arrow just landed on the pitch!" A Surrey spokesperson said, "We were about to bowl the next ball and the arrow appeared two pitches to the side of the pitch we're playing on at the moment. The umpires took it out of the ground and got the players off as quickly as possible." The match was "abandoned" by those in attendance. Met Police "confirmed that controlled evacuation was taking place but that there had been no reports of injuries" (THE SUN, 8/31).
