Talk about a tough gig.

In Season 2, episode 3 of Midsomer Murders, a scoreboard attendant meets a grim fate. And it’s not because he may have missed a bye or a no-ball or wide. He’s trying to blackmail someone.

Writing about the episode Dead Man’s Eleven for cricketcountry.com in 2017,  Arunabha Sengupta  notes: “The prelude in a quarry fades into the soothing sight of a match in progress on the village green, with two villages of the county battling each other in pristine whites, with the full array of deckchairs, sandwiches, a soaring six breaking a window, and the picturesque pavilion.

“The sound of the willow striking the leather is heard in the background when Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby visits the home of Christine Cooper. She welcomes the DCI with the words, It’s a lovely sound, the bat against the ball. It’s very English. Summer afternoons spent in peace and harmony. I think that if Jesus had played a sport, it would have been cricket.”

Not so lovely is the quick demise of the young chap in the scoring shed, knifed by a young woman bringing him a cup of tea. It is the last of the episode’s three murders.

Arunabha Sengupta tells us that the first murder weapon is a cricket bat, ‘a True Play brand with a black handle and a red top’.

You can read more at cricketcountry.com

Or you can listen to a US podcast about this episode via a group called Midsomer Maniacs.

You could watch the episode online via Acorn TV.

You could wait for it to turn up on the telly again.

Or try your luck in the DVD section of your local opp shop.