Steve Smith was adjudged not out by the third umpire as he survived a close runout call on the second day of the final Ashes test
A debate popped up during the second day of the fifth Ashes test when Steve Smith survived a close runout call as he was adjudged not out by the third umpire. The incident occurred when Steve Smith took off for a quick second run and was seen struggling to make his ground during the final session of the day’s play. It was a close so the square leg referred the decision to the third umpire who took a long time to make the decision and eventually gave it not out. The decision gave rise to a debate about whether Smith was out or not. Replay showed that wicketkeeper Bairstow had taken one bail off with his gloves before gathering the ball. This is where the laws of the game played its part.
What does the law say?
According to the law, “The wicket is broken when at least one bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or one or more stumps is removed from the ground,”. In Smith’s case replay showed that the other bail was not completely out of the groove for the batter to be deemed runout and that’s what Mark Bucher who was on air when the incident took place said. Interestingly Steve Smith had started walking towards the dressing room as he felt he was short of his ground and returned after the third umpire gave him not out.
What did they say?
Marylebone Cricket Club on Friday issued a clarification over the non-runout of Steve Smith. In the words of MCC “Law 29.1 states: “The wicket is broken when at least one bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or one or more stumps is removed from the ground,” MCC posted in a tweet to clarify the decision made by Menon. Steve Smith after the end of the day’s play was asked whether he knew the rule regarding the entire incident he said “Don’t the bails have to come out off the stumps, out of the grooves or something as far as I know?” “But you’ve just got to go off the umpire and what he says and fortunately for me he said ‘not out’.” Smith scored 71 crucial runs in Australia’s first innings helping his team to get a lead of 12 runs in a low-scoring match as Australia were bowled out for 295 in response to England’s score of 283.
