England vs Ireland, Only ODI: Watch- Ben Foakes Affects a Sensational Yet Controversial Stumping
May 6, 2019 at 12:35 PM
English wicket-keeper Ben Foakes pulled off a rare stumping as England won the one-off ODI against neighbours Ireland by 4 wickets. There is certainly no doubt about the fact that wicket-keepers have to be animated all the time and look for something different. The stumping affected by Ben Foakes was no different.
As Joe Denly delivered the ball outside the leg stump, Ireland batter Andrew Balbirnie attempted a sweep shot and missed it altogether. The wide was signalled by the on-field umpire. As Balbirnie missed the delivery, his feet were well rooted in the crease. However just as he went to get up after his stretch, Ben Foakes whipped off the bails to send back Andrew Balbirnie back to the pavilion.
Meanwhile, Ben Foakes made it to the English squad in the absence of Alex Hales who has been banned for recreational drug use for the 2nd time in his career. He has also been removed from the World Cup squad. Ben Foakes might be in contention for the spot when the home team tries to win their first coveted title in history.
Foakes who did a terrific job behind the wickets, he justified his selection by scoring a well-deserved half-century. He scored 61 of 76 deliveries to take England towards the victory target. He also shared a brilliant stand of 98 runs for the 7th wicket with Tom Curran who also scored an impressive 47 of 56 deliveries.
#Foakes 👉Against "The Spirit of the Game"#ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/674kbA2sk4
— Jaan 💙♥️💙 (@MD_AhmedJeelani) May 4, 2019
After this particular mode of dismissal, people might start criticising the wicket-keeper for violating the spirit of the game. Despite just like Ravichandran Ashwin’s Mankading case, the ICC gave a green signal and stated that Ben Foakes was well within his rights to affect the stumping in that particular manner.
As per the law of MCC 20.6.1.2, “unless No ball or Wide ball has been called, it will be a valid ball if the striker has had an opportunity to play it, except in the circumstances of 20.4.2.6 and Laws 24.4 (Player returning without permission), 28.2 (Fielding the ball), 41.4 (Deliberate attempt to distract striker) and 41.5 (Deliberate distraction, deception or obstruction of batsman).”