Brydon Carse's score in England's first innings at Lord's against India today (July 11), rose by two runs without the all-rounder having to face a ball. Here's why.
Carse hits half-century as lower-order frustrates India
India made early inroads on day two of the third Test, after England were five wickets down overnight. Jasprit Bumrah bowled Ben Stokes in the third over of the day, before taking two in two balls in his next over. Centurion Joe Root was dismissed for 104 before Chris Woakes was out for a golden duck.
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However, fresh from his heroics at the last Test, Jamie Smith scored another half-century – equalling the record for the fastest wicketkeeper to reach 1,000 Test runs in the process – and he and Carse took England through to Lunch on 353-7. Carse then took over the scoring mantle when Smith was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj after the break, and he reached his maiden half-century in Test cricket with a six hit down the ground off Siraj. He was the final wicket of England's innings to fall, bowled by Siraj to leave the hosts all out for 387.
Six confusion increases Carse's score
The six Carse hit off Siraj to reach his half-century caused some controversy. The signal initially given by umpire Sharfuddoula was for a four, despite the ball seeming to clear the boundary. The call didn't affect Carse reaching 50, as he was on 47 the ball before, and thus would have reached the milestone regardless of whether the shot was awarded six or four.
But, when the error was highlighted by replays several balls later, the decision was corrected to a six. That meant Carse's score increased by two runs, and he finished on 56 rather than 54. Given that it was also Carse's highest score in the format, the correction was of elevated importance.
The confusion drew comparisons with an incident during one of Smith's innings over the winter. When England were playing Pakistan in Rawalpindi in the final match of the series last year, Smith counter-attacked when England were reduced to 98-5 in their first innings. When he was dismissed by Zahid Mahmood, his score read 91, but it was brought down to 89 half an hour after he was dismissed. This was because of a correction to one of his boundaries which was signalled as a six, but actually hadn't cleared the boundary rope.
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