Handled The Ball - Occasions in International Cricket

Occasions in International Cricket

The first occasion of a batsman being given out handled the ball in international cricket occurred during a Test match between South Africa and England in Cape Town in 1957. In the second innings of the match, the South African Russell Endean padded away a delivery from Jim Laker. The ball looped off his pads into the air, and was falling towards his stumps until Endean instinctively knocked it away with his free hand. He later suggested that he had "thought of heading it away, but that seemed too theatrical." The second instance came 22 years later during a bad-tempered series between Australia and Pakistan that also involved another rare dismissal method: Mankading. Andrew Hilditch was the victim in this match; he picked up the ball and returned it to the bowler after a wayward throw from a fielder. The bowler, Sarfraz Nawaz, appealed for the wicket and Hilditch was given out. Another Pakistan player, Asif Iqbal, distanced himself from the incident, commenting that he felt "there was no need for us to stoop so low as to appeal against Hilditch". Hilditch's dismissal marked the only time that a the non-striking batsman has been given out for handling the ball. The next case also occurred in a match between Australia and Pakistan. The match was marred by stones being thrown at the Australians in the field, providing a tense atmosphere. Mohsin Khan defended a delivery from Geoff Lawson, which then landed behind him. Mohsin pushed the ball away from the stumps with his hand, resulting in the wicket.

Desmond Haynes was the fourth man to be dismissed for handling the ball in Test cricket, just over a year after Mohsin. Facing India in late 1983, Haynes had been struck on the bat and pad by the ball, which then headed towards the stumps. The West Indian batsman redirected the ball away from the stumps with his free hand. Upon being given out, Haynes—who was ignorant of the law regarding handling the ball—argued with the umpire about the dismissal. After asking the bowler, Kapil Dev, if he wanted to withdraw his appeal, the umpire sent Haynes back to the pavilion. The first instance in One Day Internationals was in 1986, when the Indian batsman Mohinder Amarnath knocked away a turning delivery from Australia's Greg Matthews that was heading for the stumps. In 1993, Graham Gooch became the only player to be dismissed for handling the ball after scoring a century. Playing defensively to try and draw the Test match against Australia, Gooch blocked a short ball from Merv Hughes. The ball flicked off his bat and fell towards his stumps, prompting Gooch to instinctively punch the ball away: Australia won the match by 179 runs.

The dismissal of Daryll Cullinan in 1999 was the second instance in ODIs: facing the West Indian spinner Keith Arthurton, Cullinan fended the ball off into the ground. It bounced high in the air, and Cullinan removed his right hand from his bat to catch it as it fell again. Despite the fact that it was unlikely that the ball would land near the stumps, the West Indies captain, Brian Lara, appealed, and Cullinan was dismissed. The next occurrence was two years later, in a Test match between Australia and India. In the first innings of the match, Steve Waugh was struck on the pads by a delivery from Harbhajan Singh. The umpire turned down the appeal, but as he did so, the ball bounced and spun towards the stumps. Waugh was alerted by a shout from the non-striking batsman, and instinctively swept the ball away with his free hand. The most recent instance came during the same year as Waugh's dismissal, in another Test match involving India. England's Michael Vaughan missed an attempted sweep against Sarandeep Singh, and the trickled along the ground after striking his pads. Vaughan brushed the ball away with his hand, despite the fact that it was not travelling towards the stumps. Initially, he claimed that he was attempting the give the ball back to the fielder at short leg, but he later admitted that he "should have just held up hands and said 'I got it all wrong, I'm an idiot.'"