Last Update on: July 29th, 2023 at 12:20 pm

Steve Smith survived a close run-out call on day 2 of the fifth Test at The Oval. Third umpire Nitin Menon meticulously checked the replays and ruled the decision in favor of Smith taking the England team by surprise.

Smith was in his 40s when he decided to run a risky double and took on the arm of substitute fielder George Ealham. The batter was out of his crease when the stumps were broken. He even started walking back after watching the initial replays.

He stopped halfway through, however, when the replays showed that Jonny Bairstow had broken the stumps with his gloves before the ball was in his hand. By the time the other bail came off, Smith was in his crease.

Also Read: AUS vs ENG: Stuart Broad Responds To His Criticism Over Marnus Labuschagne Incident

MCC’s Stance On Steve Smith’s Run-Out Call

After properly checking the replays, their umpire Nitin Menon ruled Smith not out which created a lot of debate and confusion for the rest of the day’s play. MCC later clarified its stance in a tweet putting all doubts to bed.

“Law 29.1 states: “The wicket is broken when at least one bail is completely removed from the top of the stumps, or one or more stumps is removed from the ground,” MCC’s tweet said with Menon also agreeing to the same and hence ruling Smith not out.

“Tom Smith’s Cricket Umpiring and Scoring, MCC’s Official Interpretation of the Laws of Cricket, adds: “For the purposes of dismissal – a bail has been removed at the moment that both ends of it leave their grooves,” another tweet said.

Also Read: AUS vs ENG: “His Batting Has Certainly Fallen Away” – Mark Taylor Thinks Jonny Bairstow’s Controversial Dismissal Has Impacted Alex Carey’s Batting

Smith went on to score a crucial 71 off 123 balls thereby helping Australia recover from 185/7 in their first innings as they ended up posting 295. He was dismissed as he tried to play an uncharacteristic shot top-edging the ball with Bairstow taking a good catch just outside the 30-yard circle.

Smith also spoke about his reprieve after the day’s play. He admitted that initially he felt he was out and that’s why he started walking back.

“I saw the initial replay and saw the bail come up, and when I looked at it the second time looked like Jonny might have knocked the bail before the ball had come. Looked pretty close at that stage, if the ball had hit at the initial stage when the bail came then think I was well out of my ground” Smith concluded saying.

England will start their second innings on day 3 with Australia leading by 12 runs after scoring 295 in response to England’s 283.

Also Read: AUS vs ENG: “Never Seen Australia Play With So Much Fear”- Michael Vaughan

 

 

 

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Anshuman Roy is an author at Cricketaddictor. He has been working with the organization since January 2022 and he has written more than 5000 articles for the website.