NEN and the IWSB Peers
This is just another reminder of the Golden Rule #1 of Stephen Covey – Begin with the end in mind.
Please see the mail trail below with regard to our own IWSB. We set out to build an institution that focused on entrepreneurship from Day One. We also said that we will make an effort to create a separate category of Business schools that are rated for their focus and follow-through in real-world entrepreneurship. Read more
The borders melt …..
The borders melt …..
Isn’t it interesting that each one of us has opinions on anything and everything. IPL, included! Could I be an exception to that statistic?
There are stalwarts such as Javed Miandad and Adam Gilchrist who are saying exactly the opposite about the IPL. Javed Bhai says that Cricket is being decimated by those who are supposed to nurture it while Gilly is quite certain that IPL would be regarded as the most innovative step when pundits sit and discuss cricket 30 years from now.
I am more inclined to think like Gilly than Javed Bhai for a few reasons. And, in my judgement, some of those good things are ‘here and now’ and need not wait for the cricket historians to tell us about it.
Ek Na Ruqua Rua Faisla
Aren’t the pundits wrong ? The Sehwag-Randiv event has become a saga in itself. However, this piece promises to be a bit ‘hatke’. I could not resist using my travel time to do this rather jobless piece !
My understanding of the game tells me that Sehwag must get his century and here are my arguments from the MCC rulebook. A close scrutiny of the MCC Laws of Cricket including Law 4 (The Scoring), Law 23( dead Ball), Law 24 (No Ball) and Law 21 (the result) does make my argument sustainable.
In my view, the most important aspect of this controversy pertains to the technical aspect of ‘when can the scoring be done’ (Law 4) in the game of cricket. (rulesofcricket.co.uk)
The issue is fundamentally about the technicality of ‘when can a scoring be recorded by the offical scorer’
This particular episode is not about either Randiv or Sehwag. Nor is this about India winning or Sri Lanka Losing. This issue is about the technical matter of “when is scoring recorded in the game of Cricket (Law 4) and interpreting it along with the other three relevant laws (21, 23 and 24).
The Action of Scoring / Scorer : Officially speaking, this pertains to the role of a scorer and the rules of recording the score in a cricket match. The official scorer has four roles to play in a cricket match – 1. Accept – The signal of the umpire
2. Acknowledge – and signal back to the umpire
3. Record – Record the signal into the scorebook
4. Check – periodically check and ensure that the accuracy is maintained.
The act of recording by the scorer is allowed only once at the end of each delivery and that too when the ball is deemed to be ‘dead’. The ball being dead is covered in Law 23 of the MCC rulebook. If this rule is applied to any delivery including the last ball bowled by Randiv, the scorer ‘accepts’ (Role One) two distinct signals from the ground umpire – one pertaining to the ‘No ball’ and the second pertains to the ‘Six’ scored before the ball becomes ‘dead’. It is, only at this stage, that the scorer does his third role of ‘recording’ the score, updates the total score, checks it and signals that the target has been overtaken. The Umpire could call the match as ‘over’ only here after the final check is done that the second team has overtaken the target set by the team batting first.
According to Rule 1A of ‘scoring off a no ball’, the batsman gets the credit for the runs for the runs that he ‘…makes good until the ball is dead’. This rule seems to have been forgotten in the chaos after the episode.
MCC Law 23 (The dead ball) The rule 23 clears the circumstances under which a ball is deemed ‘dead’. The only circumstances a ball becomes dead (23.5, b) when “….is to be considered dead after the striker has had an opportunity to play the ball, except in the circumstances of 3(vi) above and Law 42.4 ……”
Under all other circumstances, the batsman must get an opportunity to strike the ball and the ball is considered dead only as the umpire deems it under MCC Law 23.
The ball cannot be deemed dead in the middle of her flight (in this case, just after the ball is delivered by Randiv) for the scorer to move the scoreboard and the match to come to an end.
Cardinal Mistake / Oversight : The scorer cannot change the scoreboard/sheet when the ball is in the top of her trajectory even though the umpire has signaled a ‘no’ ball. And, no match can be called off when the ball is in ‘play’.
In the case of the last ball by Randiv, the ball continued to be in play until it came to a stop after being hit out of the ground. (MCC rule 23.1-A-ii) MCC Law 21 (result of a match) The law clearly states the circumstances under which the result of the match can be read and the specific rule Rule 21.5(c) clearly states that “…If a boundary is scored before the batsmen have completed sufficient runs to win the match, then the whole of the boundary allowance shall be credited to the side’s total and, in the case of a hit by the bat, to the striker’s score”
I am clearly a minority. Or the sole voice ? A bit of googling too has not helped in any one taking this route. A few calls / sms to a few friends including cricketers, technical gurus of the game, commentators etc., has not met with much success though a couple of them did agree that they checked with experts (and were snubbed for their lack of cricketing knowledge )
I am keen to explore this further. Just a bit more of conviction that I know a rule or two better than most. Anyway, the flight is about to land….. Insha allah, Some one pertinent reads it and does a thing similar to what happens in the movie – “Ek Ruqua Hua Faaisla” from the 1980s and starring an unknown cast including Pankaj Kapoor as the protagonist.
Satya