LANCASHIRE League record run scorer Mike Ingham is set to quit playing cricket claiming he has been sacked as second team captain of Haslingden Cricket Club after a ‘farce of a disciplinary inquiry’.

The 57-year-old said friendly banter with a team-mate had been misinterpreted as ‘racial abuse’.

Before a meeting with the club’s president Patrick Lord and chairman Mark Rothwell on Thursday night, the Continued n 5 legendary batsman said he would quit playing if the sacking stood.

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The East Lancashire cricket world was rocked this week by rumours that the right -handed batsman, who has played for Haslingden CC for 40 years, had been sacked over claims of ‘racial abuse’.

Contacted on Thursday before the meeting, Mr Ingham, a financial consultant, said: “This is an absolute farce.

“I have received an email from the chairman saying that I was being sacked as second team captain.

“There has been an allegation that friendly banter with a team mate of a different ethnic heritage has been misinterpreted as racial abuse.

“That is untrue. It was just friendly banter of the kind that goes on all the time between team mates.

“I am not a racist and do not behave in a racist way.

“I am having a meeting with club president Patrick Lord and chairman Mark Rothwell about this and another matter I am not prepared to discuss.

“If I am not reinstated and matters are not resolved properly, I shall stop playing cricket.

“I was asked to captain the second team to help the younger players.

“I have enjoyed doing this but if I am not captain I am not going to take a younger player’s place.

“If things are not sorted out, I shall stop playing for Haslingden.

“I am not going to play for another club. I shall remain a social member as it’s where my friends are.

“I have played for this club for 40 years.

“This whole thing has been a complete and utter farce.”

The results of the meeting at the Bentgate club on Thursday will now be taken to a full committee meeting on Tuesday.

Yesterday Mr Ingham said: “I have no further comment to make.”

Mr Rothwell said: “At this moment in time I don’t wish to discuss confidential club matters in the public domain.”

Mr Lord, speaking on behalf of the club, said of the meeting on Thursday night: “It was just a friendly drink between three old friends.

“We were talking about whether at his age Mike was fit enough to continue playing.

“There’s always friendly banter between team mates. We are a very friendly club.”

Accrington-born Mr Ingham has played for Haslingden throughout his cricket career making his first team debut as a teenager in 1974.

A right handed early order batsman and right hand medium pace bowler who fields at cover point or second slip, his nicknames are ‘Ingers’ and ‘Rubber Legs’ HIs father John played for Haslingden between 1946 and 1981, and was part of the Worsley Cup winning side of 1977.

His batsman son Lee has played for Haslingden since 2009.

Mr Ingham is the highest scoring batsman in Lancashire League history with over 17,000 runs and has been in teams which have won nine Lancashire League Championships, and five Worsley Cup wins including the double in 1997.

He also played for Cumberland County Cricket Club in the Minor Counties competition, played for League Cricket Conference against Sri Lanka, India, West Indies, and Australia.

Mr Ingham, who lives in Haslingden where he has a financial planning business with his wife Wendy, has also played for the Lancashire County CricketClub Second Eleven, a Lancashire League team and Lancashire over 50’s.