Stuart Broad has responded by saying: “Get your act together” as the cricketing world reacted in disbelief to his controversial sending-off in England's match against Zimbabwe on Sunday night at the U19 Cricket World Cup.
England won comfortably by 146 wickets despite the third umpire getting the issue wrong in the 17th over.
England's No. 4 batsman Hamza Shaikh picked up the stuck ball and, as it appeared to be dead, first gestured to the Zimbabwe wicketkeeper that he intended to do so, before being picked up by Ryan Kamwemba. He was sent off for throwing the ball.
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What seemed like a classy act of sportsmanship quickly became a controversial moment, with Kamwemba appealing for Shaikh's dismissal for field interference as Broad and another former England Test cricketer stood up in arms. Ta.
The ball itself caught the inside edge of Shaikh's bat and the ball fell just in front of the stumps, but fell short of hitting the wicket.
Cricket Rule 37.4 states: “If, while the ball is in play, a batter hits it back with his bat or any part of his body without the fielder's consent, either batter has obstructed the field.'' Any fielder may give the ball away. . ”
Although the wicket may have been allowed under the terms of the law, the general consensus within the cricket world was that common sense should prevail.
“We have a way of kicking you between the legs in this great game that we love so much,” talkSPORT commentator and former England fast bowler Steve Harmison said before replays were shown. .
“Referees need to have more power and influence over the game. Common sense doesn't always apply when officiating. I don't know why. If we had common sense, things would be better.”
After watching the rebroadcast, he added, “I'm shocked and sorry.''
“Then the game was over when I got sent off, and it really was. How can the referee make that decision?”
Shaikh's sacking was reminiscent of a similar incident at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, when South Africa's opener Gibeshan Pillay was sent off for “field interference”.
Former West Indian paceman Ian Bishop told Fox Sports at the time that Pillay should not have been sent off, given that the ball had stopped before the batsman picked it up.
“This was an unfortunate problem,” Bishop said.
“The batsman is not trying to get an advantage. He's not trying to be unfair.
“The umpires did what they had to do. The ball stopped. It's not a threat to the stumps. It doesn't seem like that's necessarily good law. It might need to be reconsidered. .
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“The batsman is not trying to gain an unfair advantage. All he is trying to do is help the fielding team.
“If I had been field captain, I would have had to look deeper into myself. Even if I exercise some discretion here as to what the nature of the game and the spirit of the game means. OK? I wouldn't have gone that way.
“He's obviously a bright kid and understands the letter of the law. Compared to the last World Cup, this one is a little different for me.”