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England cricket respond to controversial World Cup final call as ex-umpire slams 'clear mistake'

Jul 15th, 2019
Jul 15th, 2019

England cricket has responded after a former international umpire and member of the MCC laws sub-committee says the team was incorrectly awarded an extra run in the tied World Cup final.

Australian Simon Taufel has confirmed a "clear mistake" was made when England was given six runs, not five, when the ball richocheted off Ben Stokes' bat and into the boundary in the final over.

That moment was pivotal to the outcome of the match, swinging the momentum back in England's favour just as it looked as though they were running out of balls to overhaul New Zealand's total.

Yet England’s director of cricket Ashley Giles said that he was not bothered by the issue and did not believe an extra run was crucial to the outcome.

“Not really,” he said, per the BBC.

“You could argue the last ball that (Trent) Boult bowled was a full toss on leg stump and if Stokes hadn't just been looking for two, he probably would've banged it out of the ground anyway.

“We are world champions, we have got the trophy and we intend to keep it.”

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Taufel said that the umpires had erred.

“They (England) should have been awarded five runs, not six," Taufel told Fox Sports.

“It’s a clear mistake … it’s an error of judgment.

“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.

“Obviously TV replays showed otherwise.”

Taufel also confirmed that, given five runs not six was the correct ruling, the batsmen should have swapped sides, meaning Adil Rashid and not Stokes should have faced the penultimate delivery.

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On Monday, the ICC refused to be drawn into the umpiring controversy.

"The umpires take decisions on the field with their interpretation of the rules and we don't comment on any decisions as a matter of policy," a spokesperson said.

Even with the benefit of that extraordinary stroke of luck, England could only manage a tie, sending the game to a tied 'super over' before the result was decided on countback based on the number of boundaries hit.

We'll never know if the result would have been different if England were awarded one less run for the unwitting intervention of Stokes but an examination of the Laws of the game gives New Zealand yet another reason to feel very hard done by.

Andrew Miller, a senior columnist for ESPN Cricinfo, was the first to report on the quirk that may have resulted in the most costly of umpiring howlers.

"According to Law 19.8, pertaining to "Overthrow or wilful act of fielder", it would appear that England's second on-field run should not have counted, making it a total of five runs for the incident, not six," Miller wrote.

Ben Stokes dives to make his ground, deflecting the ball to the boundary. (AAP)

"The law states: '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.'

"The crucial clause is the last part. A review of the footage of the incident shows clearly that, at the moment the ball was released by the New Zealand fielder, Martin Guptill, Stokes and his partner, Adil Rashid, had not yet crossed for their second run.

"There is potential scope for ambiguity in the wording of the law, given that it references throw or "act", which may pertain to the moment that the ball deflected off Stokes' bat. However, there is no reference to the batsman's actions at any other point in the Law."

On that basis, at the very least there was a strong case for the umpires to rule that five runs, not six, be awarded.

A worst case scenario for New Zealand is that it was in fact an officiating howler due to the misinterpretation of the Law that cost them the World Cup.

The ICC has not yet given clarification over the umpires' ruling but with a media storm brewing around the incident the governing body is likely to be forced to shed light.

Even before the nuance in cricket's Laws started the discussion New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson considered the incident a "tough pill to swallow".

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"You can't sort of look at that and think that perhaps that decided the match," he said.

"There were so many other bits and pieces to that game that were so important. When it comes down to a tie, you start looking at every single delivery, don't you?

"It was a pretty tough pill to swallow that when, yeah, when we were looking pretty likely with Trent bowling really, really well, so one of those things."

Should the ICC admit to an umpiring mistake in such a crucial moment the "tough pill to swallow" will likely grow to national outrage.

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