From The "You Can't Make this stuff Up" Department-

AN UMPIRE who offered his services to the church for a friendly cricket match was stunned to be turned down – because an ancestor of his was a bishop two centuries ago.

Playwright and cricket buff Michael Claughton was out for a duck in the friendly between the Archbishop of Canterbury's XI and a Vatican XI because he is related to Thomas Claughton, Bishop of Rochester and of St Albans in the 19th century.

The Ashford Borough Council deputy leader was bowled out by the Church Times, which is organising this month's match with Kent County Cricket Club, as they feared he might be biased.

Father-of-one Mr Claughton said: "It's bonkers. This is church bureaucracy gone mad. They said to me 'we'll probably be looking for a Methodist or an atheist'. It's amazing."

More here-


http://www.folkestoneherald.co.uk/Umpire-Anglican-inter-churches-match/story-22876641-detail/story.html