A day after the International Cricket Council (ICC) implemented a new set of cricket rules, Queensland cricketer Marnus Labuschagne became the first fielder to breach the new regulations of ‘fake fielding’. During Australia’s domestic cricket tournament, JLT cup, Queensland Bulls cricket team were charged with 5 runs as a penalty as one of its players (Marnus Labuschagne) was found violating the new law.
What actually happened?
The incident occurred during the 27th over of the Queensland Bulls (QLD) vs Cricket Australia XI (CXI) match. CXI batsman Param Uppal drove a ball towards mid-off, where Labuschagne dived and missed the ball, but faked a throw that led Uppal to stutter initially and shape to scurry back to his crease.
When the batsmen realised that the ball was on its way to long-off and fielded by Matthew Renshaw, Labuschange raised his hand to apologise for his actions.
This incident made the on-field umpires to signal the scorer by repeatedly tapping his left shoulder with his right palm to indicate the penalty runs.
What is actually the rule violated by Marnus Labuschagne?
Marnus Labuschagne violated the MCC’s new law 41.5 which states:
“It is unfair for any fielder wilfully to attempt, by word or action, to distract, deceive or obstruct either batsman after the striker has received the ball. A fielder feigns to field the ball and/or feigns to throw a non-existent ball in an attempt to prevent the batsmen running.”
After the match, Matthew Renshaw (plays for QLD) supported the action taken by the umpires on breaching of the new rule imposed by ICC. According to a report published on cricket.com.au, while speaking to some media personnel, Renshaw said,”It’s a good rule because from a batting point of view I can see where it comes from – it’s quite a challenging thing when someone picks up and throws, and you think you’re miles out but they don’t have the ball.”
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