Bournemouth University may have earned an entry into Wisden for one of the most unusual ways of winning a cricket match – a mobile phone bowl-out.

The bizarre event took place after their British Universities & Colleges Sport cup tie with Oxford University had twice fallen foul of the weather.

Students and officials agreed the Men’s Trophy quarter-final needed to be settled and both teams headed to separate sports halls to determine the victors.

Bournemouth made their way to the Dorset Cricket Centre at Hurn Bridge , while Oxford used the indoor facility at the Marston Sports Ground.

Under the watchful eye of official umpires, both teams simultaneously bowled 10 balls at a set of stumps with the outcome relayed by mobile phone.

And after both had managed three successful hits, Bournemouth went on to emerge triumphant when James Cramp won it for them in sudden death.

Cramp also struck one of Bournemouth’s three hits during the initial shoot-out, while Badrul Alam, who plays for Poole Town in the Dorset League, was on target twice.

Bournemouth University skipper Alex Butler told the Daily Echo: “It was a surreal experience because you were bowling at a set of stumps and had no idea what the other team were doing. It was tense and a great relief when we found out we had won.

“As the game had been called off twice, it seemed pretty pointless Oxford making a four-hour round trip for a five-minute bowl-out so it was mutually agreed to do it over the phone.

“We both went to our respective cricket facilities and nominated five bowlers to bowl two balls each. We both had an official umpire in attendance to confirm the scores. We also had to have a coin toss over the phone to see who went first in sudden death.”

Butler, who also plays in the Southern Premier League for Bournemouth, added: “It wasn’t ideal and was a bit of a lottery. But with the weather being so bad this summer, we had to get a result one way or another.”

When contacted by the Daily Echo, a spokesperson for Wisden – the world renowned cricketers’ Almanack – said a bowl-out conducted by mobile phone was not something they had come across before. They added that the occurrence had a “very good chance” of being included in their chronicle section in next year’s edition.

Bournemouth University went on to finish their season as runners-up in the Men’s Trophy after losing in the final to Leeds Metropolitan, their only defeat of the campaign.