In September, as Surrey took on Glamorgan in the penultimate round of the Championship, a fox trotted on to the outfield at The Oval. Having ignored a shooing from Ollie Pope, it discovered a white cricket ball – and settled down on the covers to play with it, before being chased off by groundstaff. Two days later, it was back, now toying with Indian seamer Auqib Nabi’s jumper, which it found by the boundary. The previous evening, the Cricket Discipline Panel announced that Leicestershire – the Foxes – were facing a 27-point deduction for a substandard pitch. Some on social media joked that the county were using a saboteur to gain revenge on the cricketing Establishment.

It was not the first time a fox had halted play at the ground. Two years earlier, a Blast game – again Glamorgan were the visitors – was held up by both a fox and a goose. The match had already been delayed for 40 minutes by a thunderstorm. Perhaps they were omens: Glamorgan were bowled out for just 44, the competition’s lowest total, as Tom Curran claimed a hat-trick. 

In the largely underwhelming opening match of the men’s Hundred in 2025, London Spirit were dismissed for 80 by Oval Invincibles at Lord’s, the second-lowest score in the tournament. That match too was disrupted by a vulpine visitor. The fox stole the show, sprinting laps around the outfield before finding a way out between advertising boards. Some felt it the highlight of the day. 

Stories of animal antics frequently crop up in the Chronicle section of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which collects unusual happenings from the world of cricket. Here is a selection of the best – starting with a cautionary tale for the Oval fox:

Residents living near the County Ground at Hove called police after hearing gunshots after midnight. Sussex County Cricket Club later admitted they had brought in a pest-control company to shoot a fox. Chief executive Dave Brooks said it had been causing problems by “scratching around on the covers and acting oddly”. He insisted: “We really didn’t want to do it, but it was a last resort.” (2010) 

More than 60 people offered to give a home to a stray mongrel who ran on to the pitch at Trent Bridge as Merv Hughes was about to deliver the first ball of the Third Test. Graham and Sally Bosnall from Derby, who adopted him, followed the example of the staff at the RSPCA shelter, and called him Merv. (1993) 

Wally Lloyd, a spectator at a match between Kington and a Herefordshire Select Eleven, caught an escaped pet kestrel on the outfield by tempting it with a piece of ham. (1994) 

A Cornwall League Division One match between Helston and Falmouth was held up for 90 minutes after thousands of bees swarmed on to the ground. Two players were stung, and specialists had to be called to collect the swarm before play could resume. (1997)