Image Credit- Getty
As Australia and Scotland wrapped up their first Twenty20 International match in Edinburgh, the conversation shifted from Travis Head’s flashy displays to left-arm spinner Mark Watt’s “long ball” strategies and the legal ambiguities his creative approach raises.
Following Mitchell Marsh’s takedown of the rope, Watt hit one of his 25-yard passes to Josh Inglis, who decided to pull away with the ball taking the leg bail. The umpire appeared to speak to Inglis, but he called “dead ball.” Marcus Stoinis started to face up and walked away shortly after, but this time the ball missed the stumps. It happened again shortly after.
“It’s just trying to rush [the batters],” Watt has previously explained. “By the time I’ve let it go, the batsman looks up and the ball’s halfway down the wicket.”
The wording of the relevant Law, 20.4.2.5, showed the umpire had made the correct call. “Either umpire shall call and signal Dead ball when…the striker is not ready for the delivery of the ball and, if the ball is delivered, makes no attempt to play it. Provided the umpire is satisfied that the striker had adequate reason for not being ready, the ball shall not count as one of the over.”
Watt evidently believed Inglis had been prepared to face, but the umpire has the last say over what constitutes a “adequate reason” for the batter to pull away. While staring towards the bowler prior to the ball being delivered, Inglis did seem to be looking down as he tapped his bat, according to freeze frames captured just as Watt began his run-up.
On commentary, the former Scotland captain Preston Mommsen suggested Inglis had been fortunate. “The unexpected nature of the delivery coming from 23, 24 yards. He’s a very lucky man to still be there,” he said.
Though it’s not the first time the question of whether Watt was denied a wicket has been raised, the outcome would not have changed. The same thing happened previously in the T20 World Cup when umpire Chris Brown ruled a dead ball after Oman batsman Khalid Kail was ‘bowled’ for moving away. That time, Watt and captain Richie Berrington had a conversation with the umpire. However, on Wednesday, the game proceeded with only a few gestures and some jeers from the spectators following the second dead-ball call.