Perth: UAE allrounder Amjad Javed feels that the rule that says “if a bowler hits the stumps with his delivery and the bails return to its original position, then the batsman should be declared not out” needs a review.
Javed had bowled Ireland’s Ed Joyce with his delivery and the bails moved up too, but it failed to fall off, and hence he was denied the wicket. Joyce celebrated his luck by hitting Javed’s next delivery for a boundary in a close finish that Ireland won by two wickets with four balls to spare at Brisbane.
As per the rules of cricket, bails are used to determine when the wicket is broken... which in turn is one of the critical factors in determining whether a batsman is out bowled, stumped, run out or hit wicket.
Speaking to Gulf News, Javed said: “Nowadays lights have been fixed on the bails and stumps for everyone to know that the stumps have been hit. In fact, the bails also flash when it moves out from its original position. So under these circumstances I feel it is injustice to the bowler not to get that wicket.”
Javed revealed that even Joyce was shocked with the decision. “We both laughed. That is the best we could do as sportsmen,” he said.
“Joyce’s wicket would have been my fourth one. I was unlucky not to get some close calls for leg before, and some catches too eluded our fielders, or else I could have had a five wicket haul in a World Cup,” added a slightly disappointed Javed, who had to be satisfied with figures of 3 for 60.
After the match, many Ireland fans came up and told me that what had happened was called ‘Luck of the Irish’. Javed later researched that and found out what the term meant. “It seems during the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth. Over time this association of the Irish with mining fortunes led to the expression ‘Luck of the Irish.”
