Batters get all the perks in cricket, just ask any bowler.
The long-held benefit of the doubt tradition has been eroded in the modern era as technology has made many decisions more black and white.
One of the grey areas that remains in cricket is the LBW law when a batter can be given out if hit outside the line of off stump if they are deemed to not be offering a shot.
That definition should not just mean when they shoulder arms and allow the ball to strike them on the pad.
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Tucking the bat behind the pad as they lurch forward should not be considered playing a shot.
Cheteshwar Pujara defends in Ahmedabad. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
There were a couple of instances on day three when India batters – and it’s not just them who engage in this practice – were adjudged to have been playing a shot even though the willow was safely squirreled away behind the front pad.
Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith specifically asked umpire Richard Kettleborough after an appeal for Cheteshwar Pujara’s wicket was turned down after a Todd Murphy off break thudded into his pads marginally outside the line of the stumps.
This tactic virtually eliminates the chance of popping up a catch to bat-pad but it’s dull and defensive cricket which needs to be discouraged.
The batter gets two bites at the cherry by this being considered “playing a shot”. It’s not. There needs to be intent and if the umpire doesn’t believe the batter is legitimately trying to make contact, they should be given out even if hit outside the line as long as the ball is heading back towards the stumps.
With the home side reaching 3-289 by stumps on day three, still trailing Australia’s total by 191, the final two days of this Test are likely to end in any other result than a draw.
Shubman Gill brought up from century just before the tea break, then Pujara was trapped in front on 42 by Todd Murphy.
Pujara was certainly playing a proper shot when he was dismissed, he was simply deceived by the rookie off-spinner.
Virat Kohli appreciated the benign batting conditions to reach 59 by the close while Ravindra Jadeja (16 not out) joined him for a 44-run stand to continue India’s steady climb after Gill was out for 128.
Wild Thing on ice
West Australian speedster Lance Morris must be wondering when he’s ever going to get a game for Australia.
Andy Bichel holds the unenviable record of 19 Tests as 12th man but the way he’s going but at least he evened that out with the same number of appearances in a baggy green cap.
The Queensland fast bowler was the unlucky odd man out during Australia’s golden era at the turn of the century, often missing out because Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath were all-time greats and then the likes of Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz would get the nod ahead of him.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Morris was called into the Australian squad for the second Test against the West Indies at Adelaide in early December.
He was retained for the South Africa series but didn’t make the final XI in Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney despite plenty of speculation that he could be a bolter with Josh Hazlewood and then Mitchell Starc sidelined by injury.
The 24-year-old quick was chosen for the India tour but with fast bowlers thin on the ground and spinners dominating, he has watched Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Starc get game time while he bides his time.
Morris was officially named the 12th man for the final Test in Ahmedabad among Australia’s touring reserves.
Queensland seamer Michael Neser followed a similar path in recent seasons, spending more than 10 Tests as a squad member before getting his Test debut in 2021 and adding another one at the same venue three months ago.
Morris is likely to be part of the squad selected to tour England in June for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes but will again be on the outside looking in unless there’s an injury to one of the more experienced campaigners ahead of him on the pecking order.
Unless he can snare that elusive baggy green cap in England, he is set to go 14 matches as a squad member waiting in the wings.
Hamstrung Richardson set to miss Ashes
One player who won’t be in action for Australia in England is luckless fast bowler Jhye Richardson.
He has undergone surgery to fix his hamstring after a summer for Western Australia which has been hampered by injury. The 26-year-old, who has played three Tests and 33 white-ball matches for Australia, has not been sighted at international level since June as he has battled to get back to his best after shoulder and heel problems.
Richardson has been ruled out of the IPL where he was due to play for Mumbai and is at long odds to be on the plane to England due to his lack of cricket. He hasn’t played first-class cricket since the start of November and his BBL campaign was curtailed by his hamstring issues.
“Injuries are a big part of cricket, thats a fact. Frustrating? Absolutely,” he posted on social media on Saturday from his hospital bed.
“But I’m now in a scenario where I can get back to doing what I love and work bloody hard to become an even better player than before. One step back, two steps forward. Let’s do this.”
Sunny shirty over field settings
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was hot under the collar after Australia resorted to a 2-7 leg-side heavy field setting on day three at Ahmedabad.
With the pitch flattening out, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara looking untroubled as their partnership went beyond 100 and Australia needing a win to draw the series, Steve Smith instructed his spinners to target the pads from around the wicket.
It didn’t work and it’s the kind of negative play that needs to be stamped out of the game, according to Gavaskar.
“There has to be a restriction, you can’t have seven on the leg side,” he said in commentary for host broadcaster Star Sports.
“That’s one of the reasons why the LBW rule (rules not out) for the ball that pitches outside leg stump, because it’s a blind side for the batters.”
"Tucking the bat behind the pad as they lurch forward should not be considered playing a shot." 100% disagree. You change that rule you open up way too much subjectivity from Umpires....it will become ridiculous, and you will see massive discrepancies within test matches and within series as different umpires have different ideas of what is a shot attempt and what is not. It is bad enough with far too much subjectivity for wides in Test matches, as evidenced in the arguments back and for in firstly the Eng NZ thriller, and the just completed SLanka NZ thriller. Cricket does not need to open itself to yet more subjectivity with what you propose. It SHOULD be hard to get a batsman out LBW. And I think the DRS has done it's job in evening up the LBW for bowlers, so lets not now stuff it up with what you propose. But good article none-the-less. We need to raise and discuss these issues. Cheers
Clear as mud
Guest
except for the tour to Bangladesh, where he was
Clear as mud
Guest
it was meant to be most stupid. but i am two stoopid
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
Not sure the game is always in favour of the batsman. A bowler can bowl a noball, wide, bad ball hit to the fence and he still gets to bowl again. A batsman only gets one chance to make an error and he can be done for the innings, no maore batting.... although I do agree regarding the plodding forward with your bat behind your pad is not an attempt to play a shot and should be considered so.
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
One can only imagine those five playing in the same test match.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I knew his friends, Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Sorry, slight necessary correction: those Adelaide, Sydney and Mumbai tests in 1985 and 86 saw 3111 runs scored over the equivalent of 14 days for 57 wickets for that average daily score of 4 for 222.
Pop
Roar Rookie
Bowlo would have certainly built pressure. That is what he does.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
The batsman is only allowed to defend his wicket with his bat Dave J.
Jeff
Guest
Clutching at straws here :laughing:
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Why don't you reply to me Zesers? Or are you pretending you didn't see it?
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Starc is too ‘fair-weather’ for me. The most over-rated Oz Test bowler since B Lee.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
calls into question the argument that Aus needs Starc so he can rough up the surface for Lyon. Arguments that justify NSW players getting The Nod rarely involve facts... (See "Mark Waugh's off-spinners could prove handy.").
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
Starc is playing in this game for no value to us. Speaking of... I don't know whether it's because; a) He's short of practice, b) he's trying to reverse every delivery, or c) He's got a back niggle... but he's very front on in delivery in this match.
qwetzen
Roar Rookie
I knew your brother. Mot the Hoople...
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Hey Shire. I assumed Gavaskar scored against the mighty Windies quartets but that was corrected by that article I read and what you just wrote. Im amazed when he's banging on about something, no former players point it out. Where is Neil Harvey when you need him?
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
Absolutely Shire, and there is also no shortage of Indian fans that can see through the myth, to their credit.
The Knightwatchmen who say Nii
Roar Rookie
“236 not out. This was a fantastic innings, and underlined why Gavaskar is a great.” The article is a lot better than I thought it would be Zesers, and it saves me the trouble of outlining those very things. But the above is complete and utter rubbish. In reality, the first day was entirely washed out, and more time lost over Days 2 and 3 took India to stumps on Day three on 4 for 69 in reply to 313, a mere 45 from avoiding the follow on. With more time to be lost on final two days, once India got past that 114, a draw was a near certainty. The West Indies clearly saw it that way because from that point, until 8 for 451 declared, part-time spinners Gomes, Richards and Harper bowled 60% of the rest of the overs that India faced. Even had Gavaskar got out immediately the next day, from 5 for 69, they could probably still have limped to that 114 mark. If we want to be generous, we could accredit Gavaskar with around 50-60 runs of genuine value up to avoiding the follow on. I would be more inclined to call it 40-50 runs of usefulness. His other century that same home series was also in a high scoring draw and his 147 not out in Georgetown, Guyana, earlier that same year, 1983, was scored entirely on the 5th day, when India began their reply to the West Indies 284 that had occupied the first four days, so zero chance of losing. Once again, the part-time spinners bowled 18 of the 79 overs India faced. Gavaskar’s three tons against Australia in the mid-1980s were in very high scoring draws against a totally p-ss weak attack. In those three games 57 wickets fell for 1199 runs for an average daily score of 4 for 222 – you do not get results in tests like that. Even his 90 in the tied test came among 4 centuries, 5 scores of 50-89, two unbeaten high 40, and only 3 single figure scores from 28 specialist batsmen across four innings. 1488 runs were scored for 32 wickets, one of the teams only losing 12 wickets in the whole match. In Pakistan 1982-83, Gavaskar returned three 50+ scores of 83, 127 not out and 60. The 83 was in a high scoring draw of 485, 379 and 1 for 135. The 127 was in a 3rd innings doomed cause starting out at 0 for -280, as was the 60, starting the 3rd innings at 0 for -392. Gavaskar’s ton in the return series at home later in 1983 was in a rain-ruined draw and Imran Khan was not playing. There were two tons against Sri Lanka, one in his last ever series, 176 out of a mammoth 7 for 776 in a mammoth scoring, rain-ruined draw. Remember, Sri Lanka were absolute minnows, only 5 years a test nation. The other was also in a high scoring draw, 155 in a declared total of 6 for 526 when the Lankans were only one year a test team. The other of the 11 tons between early 1982-87 was 172 against England in another high scoring/rain-ruined draw. So in his final 5 years in test cricket, Gavaskar had only two 50+ scores in result tests, prior to the match already passing its decisive point (apart from tied test) 55 at home against England in early 1982, and 90 against the West Indies in late 1983.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
You can't possibly have seen Morris if you think that.
Lukestar
Roar Rookie
Cheers CZ, just being positive after the cricket and surfing(my faves) were boring as bat s..t yesterday/last night.