The ongoing final of the 2022-23 season of the Sheffield Shield between Victoria and Western Australia saw Victoria’s Mitchell Perry take a screamer at point on Day 2. While the catch was deemed legitimate, replays show the ball might have touched the grass while Perry was not in ‘complete control over his movement’.

Victoria had lost the toss and were put into bat on a lively surface. They laboured their way to 195 off 95.5 overs, which included opener Ashley Chandrasinghe carrying his bat for 280-ball 46, which was also the highest score of the innings.

Western Australia, after getting off to a decent start in response on the second day, suffered a collapse from 42-0 to 53-3 in a span of seven overs. Hilton Cartwright, who had walked into bat at No.4, was finding life difficult and had played 18 deliveries for no run. His eyes lit up seeing a short and wide ball from Will Sutherland and he threw his hands at it.

He connected sweetly and the ball flew to the left of point, but Mitchell Perry, who had contributed a handy 33 with the bat in the first innings, leapt to his left and got both hands to it. He set off in a wild run in celebration at the spectacular effort.

While no one seemed bothered about the legitimacy of the catch at that moment, slow-motion replays suggested that the ball touched the ground while Perry was on his way down from his leap.

Mitchell Perry controversial catch

This has sparked discussions around whether Perry was in complete control when the ball touched the ground and whether the catch should have stood or not.

What does the law say?

The caught law, law 33, says, “The striker is out Caught if a ball delivered by the bowler, not being a No ball, touches his/her bat without having previously been in contact with any fielder, and is subsequently held by a fielder as a fair catch, as described in 33.2 and 33.3, before it touches the ground.” In this case, the relevant law in focus is law 33.3, which describes when the act of making a catch is over.

According to law 33.3, “The act of making a catch shall start from the time when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement.” The two points of contention are whether the ball touched the ground, and if it did, whether Perry had complete control over the ball and his own movement before it did so.

While he never lost control of the ball, he had not yet completed the motion of his dive and was in the process of falling when the ball appeared to touch the grass, as can be seen in the still above.

A similar incident happened in an ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh in 2021 when Tamim Iqbal hit a straight drive which Kyle Jamieson caught in his follow-through. The ball had touched the ground when Jamieson was in the process of falling, and it was subsequently given not out.

The Mitchell Perry screamer in the Sheffield Shield final:

The Kyle Jamieson catch:

 

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