Association of Cricket Officials | Page 22

Your Letters (continued) I fail to see any logic in the practical difference between the two situations. One is concerned with a sliding bat bouncing off the ground, the other with both feet off the ground. In both cases there had been correct grounding behind the popping crease before the wicket was broken. The only thing Answered by Mark Williams, MCC: Law 29.1(b) When out of his ground states: (b) Notwithstanding (a) above, if a running batsman, having grounded some part of his foot behind the popping crease continues running further towards the wicket at that end and beyond, then any subsequent total loss of contact with the ground of both his person and his bat during his continuing forward momentum shall not be interpreted as being out of his ground. Again you articulate the argument well, except that a key phrase in the Law is that the batsman must have continued forward momentum. The Law was originally changed in response to a decision in an ODI where the running batsman 22 that I can think of is that the act of running naturally takes both feet off the ground, whereas the bouncing of the sliding bat is controllable to some extent. The difference, to me, is tenuous and academic. had made his ground with his feet; however, in continuing to run, when the ball hit the stumps, TV replays showed that both of his feet and the bat were in the air. He was given out and this was felt to be unfair. There is a strong argument that the same principle should be extended to the ‘bouncing bat’ scenario and indeed to any other part of a batsman’s person, based upon consistency and common sense. The alternative view is that, whilst a batsman when running inevitably has both feet off the ground for an instant, he should have control of his bat, and be sure that it remains grounded within his ground even when he is running. It’s fair to say that there has been considerable debate about this in recent months, and MCC is carefully considering whether or not to change the Law. email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710