John fought the law and the law won!

Monday proved to be quite a struggle for me after the exertions of a hectic weekend. On Friday night, I travelled up to Manchester to see Bruce Springsteen rock the City of Manchester Stadium. ‘The Boss’ put on quite a show, and despite the seasonal Lancashire weather (heavy rain pouring for sections of the performance), Springsteen and his E Street Band played non-stop for over three and half hours. Not once did I see, the drummer come out with a brolly looking up towards the clouds, nor did Springsteen whip out a light meter. They played to entertain the crowd, something the ICC seem to forget when players walk off with full houses and the flood lights on.

Saturday saw us play a great game of cricket up at Welbeck, where we pleasingly took the larger portion of the points in a hard fought draw. The match was dramatized by one very unusual incident in the later stages of the home sides run chase. Guy Darwin struck the ball out to the mid wicket boundary where the ball seemed to be destined for six. John Terry, the fielder in closest proximity started to move off the pitch ready to collect the ball when he realised it has started to hold up in the powerful breeze. From his position just off the pitch, Terry leapt forward, caught the ball in the air, and landed safely a yard inside the rope. Everyone celebrated the wicket, and the batsman started to walk off. The umpires however, were not convinced. After some discussion, they informed us that it was not out as Terry had started just outside the pitch. “So its six then?” Asked a disappointed Kimberley Captain. “No” came the reply. In the end, the ball resulted not in a wicket, or in a six, but with one run awarded to the batting team. This was even more confusing as the batsmen had not even run the single!

It was an unusual situation, and one that has split opinion with the different people I have asked. Some suggested that if he had started outside the pitch then it should have been six, others though argued, how is that any different to a player who catches the ball, throws it in the air before toppling over the rope, then runs back in to catch it before it lands.

Sarah Ansell (c) - Mind those feet! Joe Denly takes a boundary catch

After looking online at the Law Book I was pleased to see that the umpires had got the initial decision spot on following a law clarification issued in 2010. Law 19 point 4 states, For it to be out, ‘the first contact with the ball is by a fielder either with some part of his person grounded within the boundary, or whose final contact with the ground before touching the ball was within the boundary’. I decided to then check to see if it should have been a six. Again, the umpires had it spot on that the ball was not six. So it appears John’s antics have found a loophole in the laws of the game! In my opinion, the correct decision on Saturday would have been bizarrely a dot ball, as no runs had been scored and no wickets taken. I just wonder if this is the last time we hear of John Terry in breach of the law in the coming weeks.

My hectic weekend was completed on Sunday when I drove up to my old school in Lancaster to play in an Old Boys game as part of the opening of the new revamped, Douglas Cameron Pavilion. Douglas has been involved with cricket at Lancaster RGS for nearly 60 years, starting at the school as a teacher in the 1950s and continuing his involvement since retiring in 1991 up to the present day. Doug is an remarkable example to us all of dedication to the development of young players, and to him I am eternally thankful for the positive way he influenced my game. Long may your contributions continue Doug, and if there were only a few more of your kind, we might just have some stronger school cricket within the state sector.