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A rare incident in Australian grade cricket fuelled a discussion on the Laws of Cricket. The perplexing scenario involved a pegged-back middle stump, yet miraculously, the bails remained intact, prompting a debate on whether the batter should be deemed out or not.
The mind-boggling incident was from a game between Ginninderra Cricket Club and West District Cricket Club. The official Twitter handle of Cricket ACT later shared the image with the caption:
“Things you don't see every day…Explain this one from a Ginninderra-Wests game for us, cricket fans – how was this possible? Physics? Chewing Gum? Swollen timber in all the rain?"
As per The Canberra Times, Ginninderra bowler Andy Reynolds looked to clean bowl Tigers opener Matthew Bosustow and had already begun celebrating after watching the ball knock over the middle stump, but Bosustow, halfway to the dugout, suddenly noticed the bails were just casually hanging out on the off and leg stumps, untouched.
It was a bit of a scene, but after a long discussion between the umpires, Bosustow got the 'not out' verdict due to the laws of the game.
According to Law 29 of the Marylebone Cricket Club — custodian of the Laws of Cricket: "The wicket is broken when at least one bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or one or more stumps is removed from the ground."
Ravi Shastri Gives His Verdict
Social media went into a split, with some insisting it should be an out. On the other hand, another faction believed the batter was not out. Even former Indian cricketer Ravi Shastri weighed in with his verdict on the matter. Here's what the renowned commentator said:
“Never seen something like this, but you have to not give ‘not out’, since the bails have to come off.”
Here, not only did the bail stay put, but the middle stump also managed to stay rooted. However, the batter would have been deemed out if the middle stump had been uprooted while the bails stayed in place.
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