Owzat? Cricket Given out by Bank of England

In a move that may say more about its Canadian governor Mark Carney than his attitude to quantitative easing, the Bank of England has abandoned cricket as part of its annual sports day, it said Friday.

Carney, who took charge of Britain's central bank last July, asked his 3,500 staff what they wanted to play this year and rounders, tug of war and a three-legged race topped the poll amid reports cricket was seen as too exclusive and technical.

"The arrangements for the day were left in the hands of staff," said a bank spokesman. "They chose a number of other sports to play such as rounders and a tug-of-war."

Several governors have been well-known cricket enthusiasts, including Carney's immediate predecessor Mervyn King.

King fielded teams including former professionals such as ex-England batsman Graeme Hick for the sports day at the bank's own well-appointed Roehampton ground in south-west London, where this year's event takes place on Sunday. 

The former governor has even said that captaining cricket teams "helped me significantly in my career".

"It is the ultimate team game that reaches across boundaries of gender, race and class, offering opportunity to all," King added on the website of Chance to Shine, a charity he chairs which encourages state school children to play the game.