The second day of Ashes 2023 Test between England and Australia attracted a lot of eyeballs with a controversy erupting over the third umpire’s decision on Australia’s Steve Smith. As per the camera angles, Steve Smith was clearly out of the crease when wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow hit the stumps, but the third umpire gave him another lifeline citing MCC rules. World’s number one Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin shared an interesting take on the whole situation.
“What’s with the Ashes and substitute fielders. #ashes2023 #ashes2005 #garypratt #georgeeahlam Have to applaud Nitin Menon for making the right decision,” Ravichandran Ashwin wrote on Twitter.
It was the 78th over, when Steve Smith attempted to steal two runs but was found inches away from the crease. It was a close call and the ground umpire decided to go to third umpire. As the pictures appeared on the screen, England players rejoiced and celebrated a big wicket. But, then the third umpire Nitin Menon decided to check frame by frame which revealed that Jonny Bairstow was guilty of removing one of the bails before the collecting the ball.
The decision shocked everybody on the ground with Steve Smith who was almost back to the pavilion making his way back to the crease. On the social media too, the third umpire was criticised with cricket fans calling it a “erroneous” decision. As the pressure went up, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) decided to issue some clarifications.
MCC rules
“We have received a few questions regarding the decision in the below video. Law 29.1 states: 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,” Marylebone Cricket Club said in a tweet.
“Tom Smith’s Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, MCC’s Official Interpretation of the Laws of Cricket, adds: For the purposes of dismissal – a bail has been removed at the moment that both ends of it leave their grooves,” the MCC added.
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Updated: 29 Jul 2023, 08:00 PM IST
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