David Bedingham was close to being dismissed obstructing the field on the second day of the WTC final between South Africa and Australia.
It was an almost-moment, a near-flashpoint that could have ignited the World Test Championship final, and instead melted away as Pat Cummins laughed, unperturbed at the umpires waving away his fielders’ appeals that South Africa’s David Bedingham had handled the ball.
Coming just before lunch at the end of a session in which the Proteas had largely kept Australia at bay, even if they made little headway themselves, Australia could have done with a breakthrough. Instead, Cummins himself struck twice soon after the break to confirm his side’s ascendancy.
Also read: Trapped or handled? Umpire dead ball call overrules contentious Carey dismissal attempt
Still, it was an incident that deserves greater inspection, with several laws colliding.
Final, South Africa vs Australia
vs
- Ball by ball Over
What happened?
With three balls until the break, Bedingham inside-edged Beau Webster into his body, and then panicked as the ball refused to drop to the floor, instead rolling down his leg and around the top of his pad. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey ran through to attempt a catch, and Bedingham removed the ball from the top of his pad and dropped it to the floor, preventing the gloveman from doing so.
What the laws say?
At first, it might seem a textbook case of obstructing the field. Law 37.3.1 states: “The striker is out obstructing the field if wilful obstruction or distraction by either batter prevents the striker being out caught.” Bedingham wilfully obstructed Carey, and he prevented Carey from catching the ball. Law 37.1.2 also states: “The striker is out obstructing the field if…in the act of receiving a ball delivered by the bowler, he/she wilfully strikes the ball with a hand not holding the bat.”
It was the dead ball law that came to Bedingham’s aid. The umpire’s decided the ball was dead before Bedingham grabbed the ball.
In particular, clauses 20.1.1.4 and 20.1.1.5 state that the ball becomes dead when “whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and person of a batter or between items of his/her clothing or equipment” and “whether played or not it lodges in the clothing or equipment of a batter or the clothing of an umpire”. An instructional video on the MCC site shows a similar moment to the one in question, with the ball lodged and trapped in the top of a batter’s pad flap, before the batter throws the ball to the wicketkeeper.
There was some debate over whether the ball was stationary at any point, and over the definitions of “trapped” and “lodged”. Here, two more laws are worth keeping in mind. Law 20.6 states: “Once the ball is dead, no revoking of any decision can bring the ball back into play for that delivery.” And law 2.12: “An umpire's decision, once made, is final.”
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
