A former international umpire and member of the committee that presides over cricket’s notoriously complex rulebook has conceded a “clear mistake” was made on the path to England winning its first World Cup.
Australian Simon Taufel, a member of the MCC laws sub-committee, has revealed a grave error was made in awarding England six runs — instead of five — when a throw struck Ben Stokes’ bat.
With England needing nine runs from the final three balls, a throw from New Zealander Martin Guptill accidentally hit the outstretched bat of a diving Ben Stokes, sending the ball to the boundary.
The play was awarded six overthrows — four for the resulting boundary and two for the batsmen’s accrued runs.
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But Taufel claims the umpires made ‘an error of judgment’ in applying an obscure clause in the MCC’s laws — which both awarded England an extra run and kept Stokes on strike.
“It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgment,” Taufel told foxsports.com.au on Monday.
The relevant clause from the MCC rulebook is this:
Rule 19.8: Overthrow or wilful act of fielder
If the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of a fielder, the runs scored shall be
— any runs for penalties awarded to either side
— and the allowance for the boundary
— and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act.
Taufel did defend the officials because that moment involved so many moving parts, and said it was unfair on the umpires and both teams to say this was the moment that decided the match.
Given that the batsman had not crossed for their second run at the instant Martin Guptill threw the ball, that run should not have counted.
“In the heat of what was going on, they thought there was a good chance the batsmen had crossed at the instant of the throw” Taufel added.
“Obviously TV replays showed otherwise.”
That means that instead of needing three runs from the last two balls, England would have needed four.
Additionally, given that the batsmen did not cross at the time of the throw, Taufel confirmed that as per the rules of the game, the batsmen should have swapped sides for the next delivery.
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That is, they should have returned to the side of their last completed run at the instant of the throw.
That would have meant that tailender Adil Rashid, and not man-of-the-match Ben Stokes, should have faced the second last ball.
Taufel praised experienced umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus as “the best of the best”, and explained the difficulty of umpiring the specific situation.
“The difficulty you (umpires) have here is you’ve got to watch batsmen completing runs, then change focus and watch for the ball being picked up, and watch for the release (of the throw),” he said.
“You also have to watch where the batsmen are at that exact moment.”
The former umpire acknowledged the call “influenced the game”, but said it should not be viewed as costing New Zealand the match – and the tournament.
“It’s unfair on England, New Zealand and the umpires involved to say it decided the outcome,” Taufel said.
New Zealand’s heartbroken captain Kane Williamson agreed with that sentiment.
“It was a shame that the ball hit Stokes’ bat, but I just hope it doesn’t happen in moments like that,” Williamson said.
“Unfortunately that sort of thing happens from time to time. It’s a part of the game that we play.”
“I don’t wish to nitpick, just hope it never happens in such moments ever again,” he added.
