'THE law is an ass' is a popular cliche. It certainly would be unless those who look to make it in cricket, view the law with common sense rather than go into it with their blinkers on.
The first session of play on the opening day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at the Asgiriya Stadium was filled with high drama and sympathy for the young West Indian fast bowler Colin Stuart. It also saw the very rare occurrence of a single over in Test cricket being bowled by three different bowlers, something that to my mind has not taken place before.
Mervyn Dillon commencing the over with the score at 12 for one suffered sharp pains in the chest after two balls and Stuart was called upon to complete the over. The first delivery appeared to slip out of his hand, went over batsman Sanath Jayasuriya's head and landed near wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs. This came under the definition of a high full-pitched ball, although it went way over the batsman's head and he was in no danger of being hit at all. John Hampshire, the umpire, quite rightly called no ball. Stuart's third delivery, was similar to the first. Hampshire once again called no-ball and said that Stuart should be taken off. Gayle, bowler number three, completed the three balance legal deliveries in the over.
There was no doubt in the minds of everyone watching the game, both at the ground and on TV, that the full pitched deliveries were not intentional. It was quite plain that they had slipped out of Stuart's hand probably due to the ball being damp.
According to the ICC Code of Conduct Standard Playing Conditions and other Regulations, September 2001, it was quite clear that Stuart could not bowl again, which Hampshire implemented.
There is no doubt that the lawmakers have very rightly considered the danger of the high-pitched deliveries which are called beamers and have taken meaningful steps to eradicate them from the game of cricket. At the same time one feels that some common sense needs to prevail.
Law 42.6b(1) in the MCC Laws of Cricket (2000 Code) under the heading 'Bowling of high full-pitched balls' permits a bowler to bowl three such deliveries before he is taken off. Any delivery, other than a slow-paced one, which passes or would have passed on the full above the waist of the striker standing upright at the crease is deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker, states the law.
The ICC playing conditions, however, are less accommodative and require that a bowler be taken off on the first repetition of the full fast high pitched delivery.
While umpire Hampshire may have thought that it was not wilful or dangerous, he did not have a choice. At first, it seemed that he, in fact, did not take Stuart off, and the bowler went back to his mark to continue the over, but after some indication from the third umpire, Hampshire changed his mind.
What has to be considered here is that the law had been put in place to ensure the safety of the batsman. It is surprising that even a delivery that goes way over a batsman's head is deemed dangerous!
Any delivery that slips out of a bowler's hand and does not travel in the direction of the batsman is deemed to be a dead ball, but one that slips out and goes in the direction of the batsman, even though it may be way over his head, is deemed dangerous. There does not seem to be any logic in this.
The ICC must look to adding a rider to their Playing Conditions, so that the ridiculous situation that arose when Stuart was not allowed to bowl for the rest of the innings after just three deliveries will not arise again.
The rule needs immediate rethinking and discretion should be given to the umpires to permit the bowler to continue if in their view the act was accidental and there was no danger at all to the batsman. After all this is International cricket and you cannot make it look absurd.
Stuart was in a state of trauma after the events and one really needed to spare a thought for him. In the second innings when he was called upon to bowl, he virtually froze on the first delivery and the ball never left his hand.
He went back and re-bowled it and thankfully everyone breathed a sigh of relief, particularly the West Indians, when he settled down to bowl a good spell. It was nice to see great cricketers like Brian Lara going to Stuart and encouraging him during those difficult times.
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