A strange no-ball incident in England’s T20 Blast League has attracted the attention of social media. Fans witnessed an unusual sequence of events during the T20 Blast 2024 quarter-final fixture between Somerset and Northamptonshire played on September 5.
In the closing stages of the first innings, Northamptonshire bowler Saif Zaib sent a delivery to trick Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory into a stumping. But, upon a DRS review, the third umpire noticed that wicketkeeper Lewis McManus’ gloves were in front of the stumps before he hit them.
This led to the umpire calling for a no-ball. The official account of the competition shared the incident’s clip on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “A very rare type of no ball.”
In the video, the third umpire can be heard asking to rewind the footage to when the ball reached the wicketkeeper’s gloves. He then said, “So that’s a clear no ball. The gloves are in front of the stumps.” With a free hit being awarded for the offence, Lewis Gregory ensured that he sent the delivery into the stands for a six.
Several fans have now reacted in the comments section. One social media user argued that it was not a no-ball and said, “Ball wasn’t taken in front of the stumps. Unless I’m mistaken, that isn’t a no ball.”
Ball wasn’t taken in front of the stumps. Unless I’m mistaken, that isn’t a no ball.— Ian Robinson (@ianrobbo07) September 5, 2024
Another added, “Just checking, what happens when a batsman, deep in the crease plays a late cut and a part of his bat is momentarily behind the imaginary line of the stumps?”
Just checking, what happens when a batsman, deep in the crease plays a late cut and a part of his bat is momentarily behind the imaginary line of the stumps ?— Shreyans Mehta (@ShreyansMehta7) September 6, 2024
“Genuinely the most ridiculous no-ball rule in cricket,” read another comment.
Genuinely the most ridiculous no ball rule in cricket…— Daniel Gravestock (@DgravyDan) September 5, 2024
Another argued, “But he collected the ball far behind.”
A netizen hinted a dig towards English cricket and wrote, “What is this sorcery? Englishmen trying to read the rulebook instead of SPIRIT of the game.”
What is this sorcerery.. Englishmen trying to read rulebook instead of SPIRIT of the game — Uday Pednekar (@UdayPednekar) September 6, 2024
“Umpire is correct but I don’t agree with that rule,” wrote one more.
Ump is correct but I don’t agree with that rule.— B (@B91437401) September 6, 2024
Coming back to the game, Somerset went on to claim a victory in the quarter-final of the T20 Blast 2024. The match began with Somerset batting first at the Country Ground. Tom Banton led the innings with a 43-ball 75. He smashed six fours and five sixes.
Banton was supported by a 63-run knock from Tom Kohler-Cadmore. These performances helped Somerset put up 215 runs on the board. During the run chase, David Willey scored 57 in an attempt to rescue the game. But Northamptonshire fell 17 runs short of reaching the total to crash out of the tournament.
