Cherny: Mitch Marsh passes first test as captain over run-out incident against West Indies

Mitch Marsh’s first real test as captain came on Sunday night at the Adelaide Oval, as a controversial run-out decision threatened to escalate despite very little on the line, DANIEL CHERNY writes.

With a gentle raise of the arm, Mitch Marsh passed his first major test as Australian captain.

It wasn’t a powerful drive or crafty outswing, or even a shrewd bowling or field change.

No, Marsh deserves credit for defusing what was threatening to become a particularly ugly and potentially costly episode late in Australia’s Twenty20 win over the West Indies on Sunday night at Adelaide Oval.

Marsh was the only protagonist to come out of the incident with his reputation enhanced.

It was cricket at its most absurdly arcane.

Windies tailender Alzarri Joseph had been caught short at the non-striker’s end when Aussie paceman Spencer Johnson whipped off the bails, except Johnson didn’t realise that Joseph hadn’t made his ground.

So he didn’t appeal.

It wasn’t until a replay was shown on the Adelaide Oval big screen that the Aussies as a collective realised it should have been a run out.

Umpire Gerard Abood, a veteran of the Australian domestic scene, stressed that since the Aussies hadn’t appealed, Joseph had survived and the match was not over.

Under Law 31.1 of the MCC’s Laws of Cricket, Abood was right in saying that he couldn’t dismiss a batter without an appeal.

Mitchell Marsh tries to diffuse the situation as his side claims they’ve run out Alzarri Joseph. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images.

Tim David, who had been fielding at deep point, said he had appealed and passionately made his point to Abood.

In any case, under Law 31.3 the Aussies could still have appealed legally before Johnson began his run-up for the next ball.

It is unclear from television replays whether Johnson had started his run-up before the Aussies started celebrating following the replay on the big screen.

Either way, Abood could have consulted with the third umpire to check if the Aussies had appealed.

That Abood was wearing a protective helmet, potentially limiting his ability to hear an appeal from the outfield, muddied the waters.

Abood had already tested the mood of the Aussies earlier in the night when he denied Adam Zampa permission to bowl because he had been off the field for too long.

Abood was terse in his exchanges with the Aussies, and even if he was on solid ground could have done more to douse the flames.

The run-out incident didn’t reflect overly well on a handful of Australian players, either.

David should be taken at his word that he appealed but he carried on unreasonably.

Spencer Johnson of Australia runs out Alzarri Joseph of the West Indies, but without anyone appealing he wasn’t given out. Picture: Sarah Reed/Getty Images.

Suggesting to Abood that the situation was a “joke” was not a good look and it took the intervention of Marsh’s arm to get the middle-order blaster to back down.

Highly experienced pair Josh Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis also remonstrated, which prompted Abood to say in a message picked up by the stump mic: “Guys we’re getting into really poor territory. Get on with the game.”

Then David Warner, who is rarely short of a word, could be heard saying: “He’s backed himself to not give it out, that’s the issue. It’s umpire error.”

Warner, who in October called for greater umpire accountability, should consult the rule book because without an appeal Abood would have erred in giving Joseph out.

What was most ridiculous about the situation is that it came with the match effectively over already.

Even without the dismissal, the Windies needed 51 to win from nine balls with one wicket in hand.

That’s eight sixes and a three. It was never going to happen and there was no need to get so worked up.

The incident threatened to overshadow a night that should be remembered for the latest in Glenn Maxwell’s short-form masterpieces.

This might all seem petty, but it is well documented that a drop-off in umpires in community cricket since the start of the pandemic is an issue.

Behaviour trickles down from the top and while Abood, who was remarkably sanctioned for his behaviour towards an umpire at a junior match involving his son four summers ago, is big enough to handle the likes of David and Warner, the ramifications down the pyramid can’t be ignored.

Originally published as Cherny: Mitch Marsh passes first test as captain over run-out incident against West Indies