Lord’s avoids handling the ball drama

Carey, alert and circling, swept around to his right to try and claim what might have been a juggling catch. “Catch it, catch it!” barked Steve Smith, clearly picked up on the stump mic.

But before the ball could hit the ground — or Carey’s gloves — Bedingham reached down and flicked it away with his hand, tossing it nonchalantly onto the turf.

Cue the sideways glances. A brief silence. And then, a raised eyebrow from Usman Khawaja from first slip: “He’s used his hand!”

The Australians turned politely to umpire Richard Illingworth, who consulted with colleague Chris Gaffaney before signalling dead ball.

Carey, perhaps still feeling the heat from 2023’s Long Room fireworks – which resulted in three members being banned – kept well clear of any direct appeal. Just a grin. No protest. No theatrics.

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While ‘handled the ball’ has been erased from the game’s dismissal vocabulary since 2017, law 37.3.1 of the game’s code does provide for dismissal if a batter “wilfully obstructs or distracts” a fielder trying to effect a catch. And Law 37.4 backs that up if a batter uses hand or body to return the ball without consent.

But it hinges on whether the ball was live – and in this case, the umpires deemed it was already dead.

Matthew Hayden, in the Prime Video commentary box, agreed: “That moment there, it’s actually dead, when it remains still.” But not everyone was convinced.

“I wonder if Alex Carey just said, ‘I’m not getting involved,’” said England’s Stuart Broad, who has made no secret of his distaste for Carey’s Bairstow stumping. “The ball never stopped. It was always moving. Carey was pouncing and the Aussies were smiling.”

In the end, no appeal. No fallout. Bedingham remained unbeaten and added two boundaries before lunch. He was later dismissed for 45, caught by Carey to become captain Cummins’ fifth wicket.

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