During the Pakistan versus South Africa World Cup 2023 clash, Aiden Markram glanced back slightly nervously over his shoulder when he heard the stumps clatter during his innings.
The South African needn’t have worried, as wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan grinned in response, and a potential moment of controversy was sidestepped.
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The incident evoked memories of Jonny Bairstow’s run-out during the summer’s Ashes series against Australia. But Markram’s situation was different for a few reasons.
International Cricket Council (ICC) has now explained the law.
In this case, a short ball from Haris Rauf whistled past Markram and bounced just before reaching Rizwan. The keeper bowed his head towards the turf upon receiving the ball.
At the same time, Markram tapped his foot in the crease and walked up the wicket. Rizwan under-armed the ball back towards the direction of both the wickets and Rauf, and when the ball struck the stumps, Markram was well out of his ground.
Here’s why the South African was not given out:
No appeal
The umpires were left with no decision to make because Rizwan and none of the Pakistan team appealed.
If they had appealed, then the match officials would certainly have had to have looked at replays.
The ball was (probably) dead
Had Pakistan appealed, then that would have muddied the waters as to whether the fielding side believed the ball to be in play or not.
A batter cannot be run out when a ball is considered dead. In the Bairstow run-out at Lord’s, even though the batter considered the over to be finished, the ball was not dead because wicket-keeper Alex Carey had intentionally thrown the ball back towards the stumps in virtually the same motion as receiving it.
There are a number of laws around dead ball. The Playing Conditions for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 are consistent with those, and relevant laws state:
– “The ball becomes dead when it is finally settled in the hands of the wicket-keeper or of the bowler.”
– “The ball shall be considered to be dead when it is clear to the bowler’s end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play.”
– “Whether the ball is finally settled or not is a matter for the umpire alone to decide.”
Markram tapped his boot in the crease before leaving, which many batters do to signal that they are not making a run. But that alone doesn’t make the ball dead. It simply illustrates that the batter considers the ball dead.
The decision in this case would have been whether the ball was “settled” in Rizwan’s gloves.
It’s impossible to know for sure, but the dipping of his head and the length of time between Rizwan receiving the ball and throwing it back in the direction of the stumps means that the umpires would almost certainly have ruled the ball dead even had Pakistan appealed.
As it was, the umpires replaced the bails, both teams smiled, the crowd cheered, and everybody moved on.
