MCC Plans to Review Controversial Overthrow Law That Allotted Six Runs to England During ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Final Against New Zealand

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is planning to review rules of Overthrow Law which created a controversy during ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 New Zealand vs England Final match. According to a report by The Times, MCC is planning to review this controversial Law according to which, England were supposed to be given only five runs instead of six during CWC 2019 Final. NZ vs ENG, CWC 2019 Final: Was Allotting Six Runs to England Over Martin Guptill’s Overthrow Valid? Here’s What ICC Rules Say. 

According to the law, if a boundary occurs during overthrow, four runs are awarded to the batting team in addition to total runs the players have completed, or runs in progress if they had already crossed at the instance of the throw or act. A boundary occurred after Martin Guptill’s throw hit Ben Stokes bat. Umpires Marais Erasmus and Kumar Dharmasena allotted six runs to England over the incident. Later, videos revealed that both the England players hadn’t crossed each other at the time of the throw and they should have been given only five runs instead of six. Simon Taufel’s Statement on Umpiring Blunder During CWC 2019 Final Adds Fuel to Fire, Netizens Divided Over England’s Controversial Win Over New Zealand. 

Here’s what the ICC Rules for overthrow states. According to ICC Rule 19.8 for 'Overthrow or wilful act of fielder', if the boundary results from an overthrow or from the wilful act of the fielder, the runs scored shall be any runs for penalties awarded to either side and the allowance for the boundary and the runs completed by the batsmen, together with the run in progress if they had already crossed at the instant of the throw or act. (Source: www.icc-cricket.com).

Later, former Australian umpire and member of the ICC Elite umpire panel Simon Taufel pointed out the umpiring blunder over the incident and said that umpires should have given only five runs instead of six. A major controversy followed as the overthrow was a big turning point in the game, due to which England also reached New Zealand’s total of 241 while batting second. After a tie in the super over as well, the Eoin Morgan side was awarded the World Cup 2019 trophy over boundary count.

Now with MCC planning to review the law, it is believed that the rules governing body will come up with good changes over the Law to stop such controversies and umpiring faults in future.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2019 03:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).