MCC clarifies contentious call

The guardians of the Laws of cricket, the Marylebone Cricket Club, have confirmed the contentious obstructing the field dismissal in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup this week was correctly handled by the umpires. 

On Wednesday, South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay was dismissed obstructing the field when, after an attempted drive resulted in the ball dropping to his feet, he picked the ball up and threw it to West Indies captain and wicketkeeper Emmanuel Stewart.

While the ball had come to a complete stop when Pillay picked it up, Stewart appealed and the umpires subsequently ruled that the batsman was out.

The decision was immediately questioned on social media and by former players such as Australia Test legend Mark Waugh, who described the incident as "disgraceful".

But Law 37.4 states: "Either batsman is out Obstructing the field if, at any time while the ball is in play and, without the consent of a fielder, he/she uses the bat or any part of his/her person to return the ball to any fielder."

While Pillay was undoubtedly just trying to help his opponents out by throwing the ball to the wicketkeeper, the MCC pointed out that the officials made the correct decision once the West Indies appealed.

In a post on its website, the MCC explained that when a batter touches the ball he/she could change the condition of it, which would be unfair to the bowling team. 

"It may seem harsh, but a scenario in which batsmen could, without any punishment, interfere with the ball would be far more problematic," the MCC said. 

"Instead, all a batsman needs to remember is not to return the ball to any fielder without consent – as the popular adage goes: batsmen bat, bowlers bowl and let the fielders field."

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting made his thoughts on the matter perfectly clear on Thursday night when commentating the KFC BBL on Network Ten.

"You just know, don’t you? Don’t you know you can’t pick the ball up until the fielding team tell you you can pick the ball up," Ponting said.

"It’s their job to field. They can come and get it. 

"If it’s at my feet I’m not getting it for them. That’s just the way I was."

However, Ponting said if he was in Stewart’s shoes, he would not have appealed. 

For a captain to withdraw an appeal it must happen before the next ball is bowled or before the umpires leave the ground at the end of an innings.

Stewart said after the match that if he had his time again, he would have withdrawn the appeal.