ENGLAND should not have won the World Cup. That is according to one former international umpire who reckons a “clear mistake” helped the hosts at the end of their 50 overs. After already getting lucky in the 49th over when Trent Boult caught him only to step on to the boundary for a six, Ben […]
ENGLAND should not have won the World Cup.
That is according to one former international umpire who reckons a “clear mistake” helped the hosts at the end of their 50 overs.
After already getting lucky in the 49th over when Trent Boult caught him only to step on to the boundary for a six, Ben Stokes was then at the centre of it again in the final over.
Needing 15 off the last six balls, Stokes was restricted to dot balls off the first two deliveries. He then whacked Boult for six to leave England requiring nine off the last three balls. That is when the real drama unfolded.
Stokes – who top-scored with 84 not out – played his shot and desperately sprinted back with Adil Rashid to make it two runs.
But as the all-rounder dived for the crease to avoid the run out, he inadvertently and accidentally deflected the ball away from the stumps… and out to the boundary.
He apologised immediately for the incident as the umpires gave six – two for the running and four for the ball hitting the boundary.
But former umpire Simon Taufel referenced rule 19.8 of the MCC rulebook relating to additional runs.
It reads: “If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be:
– any runs for penalties awarded to either side
– and the allowance for the boundary
– and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act.”
And speaking to Foxsport.com.au, Taufel said: “It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgement.”
Although describing umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus as the “best of the best”, Taufel added: “The difficulty you (umpires) have here is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release (of the throw). You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.
“In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw.”
The suggestion, therefore, is that Rashid and Stokes had not crossed when the ball was launched to the square, meaning they should instead have received five runs rather than six.
So when England reached their tally of 241, the exact same as New Zealand, some may feel the English should have been one short.
Of course, the full six runs were given and the likes of Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Jason Roy shone in the Super Overs to secure the win, finally clinching it due to the number of boundaries hit in the regular innings.
England’s director of cricket Ashley Giles responded to the claims on Sky Sports News: “You can look at so many moments during the day. If that had been the case, Stokesy got a full toss on the last ball and would probably have smashed it out of the park rather than try and nurdle two.
“And if you look over there, we’ve got the trophy so you’ll find it very difficult to get it out of their hands.”
