A bizarre incident from the Big Bash League match between city rivals Mebourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades at the Marvel Stadium divided social media on Saturday.
In the third over of the Stars’ innings, wicketkeeper-batter Joe Clarke mishit a delivery from Renegades pacer Will Sutherland to the retractable roof of the arena. When the ball ended up crashing inside the thirty-yard circle, the on-field umpire straightaway signalled a six.
There was an identical incident, 13 overs later, when all-rounder Beau Webster clobbered Tom Rodgers to the ceiling. On this occasion, the ball landed close to the pitch but six runs were awarded again.
Many were left criticising the decision, including Renegades skipper Aaron Finch. “That would have been two simple catches tonight. They were both straight up. That would have been out,” a mic’d up Finch had told the commentary team during the game.
The explanation
However, as reported by Fox Sports, an alert Mark Howard, who was calling the game, immediately pointed out: “This is your rule skipper, you’ve caused this problem.”
Howard was referring to the BBL-2 incident when the rules were changed owing to Finch himself. Playing at the same venue, Finch was denied a certain six when he hit a part of the closed roof - it was called a dead ball - following which there was a rule change, which awarded a batter a six the minute the ball came into contact with the roof.
How social media reacted
Here’s how users reacted on social media.
