There has been a lot of debate around the rule of non-striker’s run-out and in a latest incident where Adam Zampa’s appeal was turned down in the BBL, MCC was forced to impact a slight tweak in its latest and most happening rule change.
In the latest match of the Melbourne Stars, Zampa pulled out of his bowling action in the last minute as he dislodged the bails, dismissing Tom Rogers. However, in a surprising incident, the appeal was turned down by the TV umpire because it was deemed that his bowling arm had already crossed the point where he was normally expected to release the ball.
MCC shortly issued a statement highlighting the change in the rule, also focusing on the fact that the new change in the regulations will be a lot more materialistic instead of just the technicalities being at play.
The new law 38.3.2 now states, “Even if the non-striker had left his/her ground before the instant at which the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, once the bowler has reached that point it is no longer possible for the bowler to run out the non-striker under this Law.”
In an accompanying statement, MCC said, “the interpretation of the Law had been “consistent for some time” and that “the umpires were correct in their decision”. They also added, “However, we acknowledge that while this Law has generally been understood well by players and umpires, there is ambiguity in the wording which could lead to confusion.”
In the eventual conclusion, the new law read, “MCC has therefore moved to change the wording of Law 38.3 to deliver better clarity. The current wording led some to think that if the non-striker left his/her ground before the expected moment of release, then the Run out could happen at any moment, even after the bowler had gone through the bowling action. That was never the intention of this Law, nor the way it was ever interpreted by MCC.”
“It is important to note that this does not change the way the Law should be interpreted – it has been interpreted that way for the past six years, without much misunderstanding. However, the intention is that this will make things clearer.”
