Australia's Spencer Johnson and West Indies batter Alzarri Joseph. (Courtesy: Screengrab/@cricketcomau)
In a bizarre incident that unfolded during Australia vs West Indies 2nd T20I, the hosts were denied a run-out for not appealing by umpire Gerard Abod. The incident took place during the 19th over when West Indies tailender Alzarri Joseph drove through the covers and ran for a single. Australia captain Mitchell Marsh collected the ball collected the ball and threw it towards Spencer Johnson as he dislodged the bails but didn”t appeal.
The replays on the big screen suggested that the batter was well short off the crease as the Australians started celebrating the wicket. But their celebration was cut short in no time after Abood said: “Stop, stop, stop, hang on. Stop, there was no appeal.”
No appeal = no run out?
An unusual situation unfolded in Sunday night's T20 international #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/PKmBVKyTyF
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 11, 2024
Australian batter Tim David who was fielding at deep point near the boundary rope told Abood:“I appealed, Gerard I appealed, I promise you.
“This is a joke.
“I appealed from deep point, I appealed.”
Australia veteran David Warner, meanwhile, said: “it’s an umpire error.”
Abood responded by saying: “This is ridiculous. Guys, we’re getting into really poor territory. Get on with the game.”
As per the Law 31.1: “Neither umpire shall give a batter out, even though they may be out under the Laws, unless appealed to by a fielder.”
But the Law 31.1 suggests that the Australians could have appealed for the dismissals after the replays were shown on the big screen. “For an appeal to be valid, it must be made before the bowler begins their run-up.”
“I think the umpire deemed that no one had appealed, and there was a few of us that thought we did appeal,” Glenn Maxwell said after the game.
“To be fair I understand, it wasn’t like it was a screaming appeal from everyone but probably one of those things where you expect it to go up to the third umpire, we thought it was pretty close and there were a few of us putting our hands up.
“We sort of stopped, thinking he’d sent it upstairs, and everyone was turned around watching the big screen and the batter had already started walking off. So it was just confusing – thank God it didn’t cost the game. Just one of those weird rules in cricket, we should probably just be a bit louder with our appeals.”
Australia won the match by 34 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
