‘Came across as a bit dodgy:’ How Australia avoided Lord’s ‘handling the ball’ meltdown

London: Australian captain Pat Cummins has revealed he would have withdrawn an appeal for handled the ball against South Africa’s David Bedingham had the umpires not ruled dead ball as Alex Carey sweated on a possible catch.

Two years on from the Jonny Bairstow stumping that had Lord’s in a state of tumult, Carey was close by as Bedingham flicked away a ball that looked to have lodged in his pad flap. Such a lodging is a dead ball under the game’s laws, but it happened quickly enough for some speculation about whether the Australians would have appealed.

David Bedingham flicked the ball away with his glove. Credit: Getty Images

“The umpires said it was dead ball first of all, but I think we probably would have withdrawn [the appeal], yeah,” Cummins said after play on a hectic day two of the World Test Championship final.

Softly-spoken Bedingham was relief personified after admitting he had panicked with Carey so close by. “I panicked big time, because Carey was standing up so he was quite close,” he said. “The umpires said regardless I think it was dead ball, but the way I dropped the ball, picked up the ball, came across as a bit dodgy.

“But I’m glad they withdrew the appeal because there’s more controversy in other stuff, so I’m glad nothing happened out of it really. The slip cordon just told me ‘don’t panic, just leave it’, but in the moment I think I panicked big time, yeah.”

Carey returned to Lord’s for the first time since the infamous Bairstow stumping – only to narrowly avoid being swept into another storm of cricketing controversy.

In the final over before lunch on day two, Australia’s wicketkeeper found himself again at the centre of an odd dismissal debate. This time, with Bedingham at the crease.

The delivery from Beau Webster angled in and deflected off Bedingham’s inside edge into his thigh pad. From there, it bobbled gently along the top of his right leg guard and started to fall away.

Carey, alert and circling, swept around to his right to try and claim what might have been a juggling catch. “Catch it, catch it!” barked Steve Smith, clearly picked up on the stump mic.

But before the ball could hit the ground — or Carey’s gloves — Bedingham reached down and flicked it away with his hand, tossing it nonchalantly onto the turf.

Cue the sideways glances. A brief silence. And then, a raised eyebrow from Usman Khawaja from first slip: “He’s used his hand!”

The Australians turned politely to umpire Richard Illingworth, who consulted with colleague Chris Gaffaney before signalling dead ball.

Alex Carey was in close proximity to Bedingham.Credit: Getty Images

Carey, perhaps still feeling the heat from 2023’s Long Room fireworks – which resulted in three members being banned – kept well clear of any direct appeal. Just a grin. No protest. No theatrics.

While ‘handled the ball’ has been erased from the game’s dismissal vocabulary since 2017, law 37.3.1 of the game’s code does provide for dismissal if a batter “wilfully obstructs or distracts” a fielder trying to effect a catch. And Law 37.4 backs that up if a batter uses hand or body to return the ball without consent.

But it hinges on whether the ball was live – and in this case, the umpires deemed it was already dead.

Matthew Hayden, in the Prime Video commentary box, agreed: “That moment there, it’s actually dead, when it remains still.” But not everyone was convinced.

“I wonder if Alex Carey just said, ‘I’m not getting involved,’” said England’s Stuart Broad, who has made no secret of his distaste for Carey’s Bairstow stumping. “The ball never stopped. It was always moving. Carey was pouncing and the Aussies were smiling.”

In the end, no appeal. No fallout. Bedingham remained unbeaten and added two boundaries before lunch. He was later dismissed for 45, caught by Carey to become captain Cummins’ fifth wicket.

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