The match between Hobart Hurricanes and Brisbane Heat at the Gabba on Wednesday (January 10) saw a controversial decision go in favour of the visitors when Alex Ross was given out obstructing-the-field. Heat needed 49 off 19 at that stage and they eventually went on to lose the game by three runs.
Brendon McCullum, the Brisbane Heat captain, opined that the opposition skipper George Bailey “missed an opportunity” to maintain the spirit of the game. The former New Zealand captain also thought the incident fell under the grey area and that it should have been decided by Hurricanes whether to give Ross a chance or not.
“Firstly, I don’t believe it was the right decision,” McCullum said post-match. “We’re not righteous about our stance on spirit of the game. But I think every now and then you get an opportunity to stand up for the spirit of the game. Tonight, I think the Hurricanes and George (Bailey) missed an opportunity.”
The incident occurred in the 17th over of the game when Ross pulled a Tymal Mills delivery to deep midwicket and set off for the second run. Jofra Archer collected the ball and fired a wide throw to the striker’s end. Ross, who was sprinting back, changed his path to avoid being struck by the ball, but it deflected off his bat and hit the stumps. The initial appeal from Hurricanes was for the run-out, but when they saw that Ross was in, the appeal was made for obstruction of the field and the third umpire gave it in favour of the visiting team.
Law 37.1 of cricket states a batsman can be out obstructing the field “if he wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action.” However, McCullum did not agree and was seen having a long animated conversation with the umpires and Bailey after the game.
“We were debating the philosophical merits of one another’s points,” McCullum said. “Whatever the rules are, to be honest I don’t really care what the rules are. To me that’s one of those grey areas about the definition of that rule, just like a Mankad is a grey area as well in terms of the rules that we have.”
Meanwhile, Bailey maintained that his team had done nothing wrong and that the decision was totally up to the match officials, he told the broadcasters, Channel Ten.
“But to me it also falls into the spirit of the game and that was what I was making the point to George and he’s quite entitled to do differently,” continued McCullum. “And perhaps in time, sometimes these opportunities are more important than the two points at play. I think he missed one of those tonight.
“I think (Ross) was trying to veer away from the ball. If you do check the laws it’s about willfully obstructing the field. Again, none of that matters because to me it is a grey rule. When it’s grey, then it comes into the definition of the spirit of the game.
“I did the Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture a couple of years ago and I openly admitted my own mistakes about not adhering to what was a great opportunity to, I guess, hold the spirit of cricket up where it needs to sit.
“Look, that’s the way we want to play the game. Other teams don’t have to play like that. I think we’ll certainly endear ourselves to a select group of fans for the way we play and you can judge the others how you want,” he concluded.
The return fixture between these two sides is at the Blundstone Arena in Hobart on Monday (January 15).
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