Pat Cummins says he wouldn’t have appealed if Alex Carey caught the ball out of Proteas’ batsman David Bedingham’s pads at Lord’s

There was no chance of a second controversial dismissal at Lord’s for Australian captain Pat Cummins despite a dodgy moment in the World Test Championship final.

Australian captain Pat Cummins would have withdrawn his appeal if the umpires dismissed a “panicked” and admittedly “dodgy” South African star at Lord’s after he escaped one of cricket’s rare forms of dismissal.

David Bedingham, alongside Temba Bavuma, was leading the Proteas’ resurgence on day two of the World Test Championship final when he edged the ball into his pad flap off the bowling of Beau Webster and removed the ball by hand.

The umpires came together but granted the South African the benefit of doubt and judged it a dead ball.

England condemned Cummins for not withdrawing his appeal of the now infamous stumping of Jonny Bairstow in Australia’s last visit to Lord’s two years ago.

But Cummins, albeit in far less controversial scenes, said he would have kept Bedingham at the crease if it fell Australia’s way.

“The umpires said it was dead ball first of all, but I think we would have withdrawn,” he said.

David Bedingham removes the ball after it gets stuck in his batting pads. Picture: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

South Africa’s No.6, on 31 at the time, went on to top score with 45 off 111 deliveries.

A relieved Bedingham was appreciative that the Aussies didn’t embroil him in another well-documented dismissal.

“I panicked big time because I think Carey was standing up, so he was quite close,” he said.

“The umpires said regardless it was dead ball, but the way I dropped the ball, picked up the ball came across a bit dodgy.

“I am glad they withdrew their appeal because there’s more controversy in that kind of stuff. I am glad nothing happened after it really.

“I just think the slip cordon told me, ‘Don’t panic, leave it’, but in the moment I panicked big time.”

Despite his moment of fluster, Bedingham was never in trouble under ICC rule 20.1.1.4.

The ruling states: “The ball becomes dead when … whether played or not it becomes trapped between the bat and person of a batter or between items of his/her clothing or equipment.”

Originally published as Pat Cummins says he wouldn’t have appealed if Alex Carey caught the ball out of Proteas’ batsman David Bedingham’s pads at Lord’s