Q: During the World Cup final, Gautam Gambhir's bat was broken by a Lasith Malinga yorker - would he have been out if the piece that broke had flown back and dislodged the bails?
Secondly, is it out if the ball hits the umpire on the full and is caught by a fielder?
A: The answer to both parts of the question is yes, the batsmen would have been out. There has been at least one instance of a broken bat disturbing the stumps in a Test. The batsman concerned was South Africa's Billy Zulch, playing against Australia in Johannesburg in 1921-22: a ball from Ted McDonald broke Zulch's bat, and a fragment hit the stumps, dislodging the bails. He's shown as "hit wicket" on the scorecard. McDonald, one of the first truly fast bowlers, had been involved in a similar incident earlier in 1921: against England at Headingley he bowled a ball that broke the bat of Andy Ducat (who was playing in what turned out to be his only Test). The broken bit hit the stumps, but the ball was caught in the slips anyway - by McDonald's partner in high pace, Jack Gregory - and Ducat is down as caught on the scorecard.
A: The answer to both parts of the question is yes, the batsmen would have been out. There has been at least one instance of a broken bat disturbing the stumps in a Test. The batsman concerned was South Africa's Billy Zulch, playing against Australia in Johannesburg in 1921-22: a ball from Ted McDonald broke Zulch's bat, and a fragment hit the stumps, dislodging the bails. He's shown as "hit wicket" on the scorecard. McDonald, one of the first truly fast bowlers, had been involved in a similar incident earlier in 1921: against England at Headingley he bowled a ball that broke the bat of Andy Ducat (who was playing in what turned out to be his only Test). The broken bit hit the stumps, but the ball was caught in the slips anyway - by McDonald's partner in high pace, Jack Gregory - and Ducat is down as caught on the scorecard.
As for the ball hitting the umpire, if it bounces away to a fielder then that would indeed be out if caught on the full. This happened to the Nottinghamshire batsman Ian Moore in a county match in the 1960s, according to Moore's obituary in the new Wisden: "He once smashed a ball straight back down the pitch," said his former team-mate Mike Smedley. "The umpire couldn't get out of the way and it hit him, then bounced away and he was caught at mid-on."
No comments:
Post a Comment