Kyle Abbott was denied a wicket during Hampshire's County Championship fixture against Somerset on Thursday (September 26), after a rarely-seen call of dead ball was made.
At Taunton, Somerset took on Hamsphire in both sides' 14th match of the Division One season. Kyle Abbott took two quick wickets for Hampshire, removing Tom Lammonby and Andy Umeed in the second over of the innings.
Regular strikes from the Hampshire bowling attack, primarily Liam Dawson and Mohammad Abbas meant that Somerset were reduced to 64-5 and 136-9, once Abbott removed Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
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Off the very next ball, Abbott and Hampshire thought they had wrapped up the innings, as the pace bowler knocked back Somerset No.11 Shoaib Bashir's off stump.
However, they were left surprised after the batter refused to leave the wicket, pointing instead towards the stumps at the bowler's end. Bashir appeared to be suggesting that a towel, that had fallen out of Abbott's pocket as he delivered the ball, had caused some interference. The umpires agreed, and called a dead ball. As a result, Bashir was allowed to continue batting.
What do the Laws say about the incident?
According to Law 20.4.2.6 of the MCC's Laws of the Game, "Either umpire shall call and signal Dead ball when the striker is distracted by any noise or movement or in any other way while preparing to receive, or receiving a delivery. This shall apply whether the source of the distraction is within the match or outside it. The ball shall not count as one of the over."
It is impossible to prove whether or not the towel falling out of Abbott's pocket had any effect on Bashir's concentration. However, if the on-field umpires were satisfied that it could have been a distraction to the striker, they were well within their rights to call dead ball, as they did.
A similar incident occurred in an international match between India and West Indies last year, when Shardul Thakur complained of a distraction after edging the ball to slip but was given out on that occasion.
In this case, the reprieve did not prove expensive for Hampshire, as Bashir was trapped lbw by Abbott just two deliveries later.
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