Solent lifeboat crews rescue sea cricketers from sandbar

Lifeboat crews have rescued cricketers and spectators who were attending an annual event on a sandbar in the Solent.

The Bramble Bank cricket match was played at low tide on Thursday morning between yacht clubs from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In a rising tide and choppy seas, several boats struggled to leave the bank and one man was treated for breathing difficulties and cold, the RNLI said.

It said a lifeboat rescued one boat that was swamped and had no power and another that was struggling to release its anchor.

Cowes lifeboat helm Libby Finch said: “Conditions were tricky out on the Solent, with a quick shift in weather which brought strong, cold winds and lumpy seas.”

Several RIBs were struggling to get off the bank as conditions worsened, with their crews bailing out water, the RNLI said.

Lifeboat volunteers stood waist-deep in a choppy sea urgently trying to hold steady a RIB which was completely swamped and had engine failure, it added.

A second RIB was unable to release its anchor.

Calshot RNLI said: “The crew managed to get both RIBs in a better position and off the bank and with that, were quickly picked up by the [Calshot inshore lifeboat] crew out of the water and into the safety of the lifeboat.”

A man who had been playing cricket in the water suffered a suspected asthma attack and was taken by lifeboat to Cowes.

The lifeboat organisation said it was an “eventful” episode of the “unique and traditional calendar event”.