Team - Tom Jasinski (third from right in the back row) with some of his Colchester and East Essex team-mates

IT'S not often a cricketer is happy to be caught out.

But that was the bizarre scenario facing Colchester and East Essex's Tom Jasinski when batting in Sunday's friendly match against Cavaliers, at Castle Park.

The 19-year-old had won a competition to take part in a special version of Question of Sport, hosted by athletics hero Steve Cram.

Tom and pals from Durham University were set to go head-to-head against teams hosted by celebrity athletes Colin Jackson, Paula Radcliffe and Jeanette Kwakye.

However, at the time of the recording, Tom was still at the crease and racing towards a half-century.

He was eventually caught out and raced back to the pavilion in the nick of time to take part in the broadcast, which took place on Zoom and was broadcast on YouTube.

"It was great fun but pretty stressful," said Tom, a former Colchester Royal Grammar School student who lives in Myland.

"I was very conscious of the time, especially when it got to 5.15pm. I knew the quiz started at 5.45pm.

"I was rushing and whacking the ball around, as anyone who was watching would testify.

"It's probably the first and only time in my cricketing life I'll be happy to be out!

"I managed to get to 50 and my batting partner, Feroze Ahmed, made it to 100. He knew the situation and was brilliant."

Tom, who has just finished the first year of a maths degree at Durham, scampered back to the pavilion just in time to join the Zoom meeting.

He and three friends from uni then joined forces for the quiz and came second.

"It was great fun and something I would have been gutted to miss," he said.