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
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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.
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