Opinion
There is an inconsistency in what we accept to be a fair catch in top-level cricket. Due to improvements in technology, it is now common for low slips catches to be reviewed to establish whether part of the ball has touched the grass.
At the same time, however, we (the fans, the media, and cricketers themselves) do not place spectacular outfield catches under the same scrutiny.
To demonstrate my argument regarding outfield catches, I will focus on two superb catches from earlier this year. In both catches, at least a quarter of the ball touched the grass/ground before the catch was completed, yet there was no debate about the fairness of either of them.
For copyright reasons, I will not include snapshots from the relevant videos, but the videos can easily be found online.
The first catch was taken by Sydney Thunder’s Ben Cutting on 8 January 2023, playing in the Big Bash against the Sydney Sixers. Cutting leapt high in the air on the third-man boundary to catch James Vince.
As Cutting came back to earth, however, he naturally put his hands out to absorb some of the impact, and a significant part of the ball (now held in his left hand) was pressed into the grass/ground before the catch was completed.
The second catch was taken by India’s KL Rahul on 17 February 2023, playing in the 2nd Test against Australia. Rahul was fielding at point, and dived to his right to take a shoulder-high chance off an Usman Khawaja reverse sweep shot.
As Rahul came back to earth, he put his hands out to enable himself to tumble. Although Rahul held the ball securely in his right hand, a significant part of the ball was pressed into the grass/ground before the catch was completed.
I should emphasise at this point that I am not questioning the fairness of either Cutting’s catch or Rahul’s catch. As well as being spectacular, I think these catches were 100% fair.
People who have played cricket can immediately see in both cases that the ball has been held securely, and that the hand holding the ball naturally makes contact with the ground during the catching process. There is no need for a forensic analysis, as we simply “know what a catch looks like”.
The argument that Cutting and Rahul should have protected the ball from touching the ground by turning their hand palm-upwards is invalid, in my opinion, as this method of landing is unnatural and prone to injury.
I am aware that a critical difference between the above-mentioned outfield catches and slips catches that are denied after slow-motion replays is the distance of the ball from the ground when first touched by the fielder.
These slips catches are invariably taken below ankle height, with momentum forcing the fielder’s hand into the ground immediately afterwards.
Be that as it may, the scrutiny on low slips catches is moving the cricket community away from the gut feel of knowing what a catch looks like. Instead, it is now common for people to question a low catch where some blades of grass have touched the ball, even if the fielder’s fingers are underneath the ball.
An example of this attitude occurred in Australia’s 2023 SCG Test match against South Africa, when Marnus Labuschagne was given “not out” by third umpire Richard Kettleborough. After the day’s play, Labuschagne stated:
“If there’s no TV then I’m walking, that’s just how the game works. But with the amount of slow-motion footage of the ball, you see his fingers push and split open, according to the technicalities some of the ball is touching the grass, regardless of whether his fingers are under it or not.”
I think Labuschagne’s opinion, that no part of the ball can touch the grass during a catch, is not good for cricket. Some of the most spectacular cricket catches I have ever seen would have failed this test if they were exposed to a frame-by-frame analysis.
Furthermore, the excitement generated by a brilliant catch would quickly dissipate if the crowd had to wait for a pedantic slow-motion review.
The best way to create a consistent approach to catches is for the relevant Laws of Cricket to be reworded to align with the way we currently treat outfield catches.
In other words, subsequent to a fielder catching the ball, part of the ball should be allowed to touch the grass/ground, as long as the fielder retains control of the ball.
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