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The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), released a statement on Thursday to clarify the incident of non-strikers getting run out after leaving their ground early and its interpretation of this Law, which has been consistent for some time.
During a Big Bash game earlier this month on January 3, there was an incident where Adam Zampa, the Melbourne Stars captain, pulled out of his bowling action and dislodged the bails in the final over of Melbourne Renegades’ innings at the MCG.
However, his appeal for a run-out against Tom Rogers was turned down by the TV umpire, Shawn Craig, as his bowling arm had already passed the point at which he would “normally have been expected to release the ball”.
The non-striker can be run out if he/she is out of his/her ground up until the moment the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball.
That means when the arm gets to its highest point. (1/2)#MCCLaws | @BBLpic.twitter.com/fWtdJAtIh1
— Marylebone Cricket Club (@MCCOfficial) January 3, 2023
The MCC said in a statement “However, we acknowledge that while this Law has generally been understood well by players and umpires, there is still ambiguity in the wording which could lead to confusion. MCC has therefore moved to change the wording of Law 38.3 to deliver better clarity. The current wording led some to think that if the non-striker left his/her ground before the expected moment of release, then the Run out could happen at any moment, even after the bowler had gone through the bowling action. That was never the intention of this Law, nor the way it was ever interpreted by MCC.
“It is important to note that this does not change the way the Law should be interpreted – it has been interpreted that way for the past six years, without much misunderstanding. However, the intention is that this will make things clearer.
The new Law 38.3.1.2 now reads “Even if the non-striker had left his/her ground before the instant at which the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, once the bowler has reached that point it is no longer possible for the bowler to run out the non-striker under this Law.
“This becomes Law immediately, and is in effect from January 19 2023. Because this is not a material change to the meaning of the Law, MCC will not be re-printing Law books, but the change has already been reflected in all online materials.”
The MCC has also made a document available on the Lord’s website which addresses the most frequently asked questions about this Law, and MCC’s stance on the running out of non-strikers.
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