Queensland’s Marnus Labuschagne today became the first player to be found guilty of new fake-fielding rule by ICC brought in effect just a day ago. The incident occurred during the CA XI v Queensland fixture in the ongoing JLT Cup at Allan Border Field in Brisbane and his team faced a five runs penalty.
During CA XI innings in the 27th over, Labuschagne attempted to collect the ball after diving to his right but failed to get hold of it. But, despite missing the ball, the cricketer pretended to throw the ball.
The fielding trick, which has been a part of the fielding culture for quite some time, caused batsman Param Uppal to stop abruptly and try to go back to his crease before he realized that fielder had missed the ball and had traveled to the long-off region. Uppal completed a single as Matthew Renshaw collected the ball.
Labuschagne realized the error quickly and raised his hand to indicate an apology. However, the on-field umpires were not in a mood to let him escape, and after a small discussion, standing umpire Paul Wilson signaled to the scorers about the addition of extra runs. He did so by tapping his left shoulder with his right hand.
Marnus Labuschagne was found attempting to “intentionally deceiving or distracting a batsman.” This rule was formally introduced on Thursday and was included in the International Cricket Council’s updated playing ruleset. This rule was just a minor inclusion among other significant regulations which included new bat thickness rules, amendment in the DRS system, football style send-off system for level four misbehavior and introduction of tethered bails.
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