A bizarre incident involving England national cricket team’s 35-year-old all-rounder Chris Woakes took place on the second day of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kennington Oval in London on Saturday, September 7.
Chris Woakes was handed the ball to bowl the seventh over of the innings, and with four slips and a gully in place, he bowled a full-length delivery to Pathum Nissanka, who defended the first delivery for no run.
On the next ball, Chris Woakes bowled a length delivery to the off-stump side and Pathum Nissanka pushed it to the off side and ran in for a single. The ball was straight to Olly Stone at cover, and Karunaratne, who was running towards the wicket-keeper’s end, was caught short of the crease when a direct hit from Stone sent him back to the pavilion.
The umpires then took out the light meter to check the light and found that it was too dark for the pacemaker to operate.
According to Rule 2.7.1, concerning poor lighting and other weather-related issues, “it is for the umpires alone to decide jointly whether ground, weather or lighting conditions or unusual circumstances make it dangerous or unreasonable for play to take place.” The Rule then adds: “Conditions shall not be considered dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal.”
According to the rules, “a bowler must finish an over in progress unless he is incapacitated or suspended,” meaning Chris Woakes had two options: first, to leave the field and second, to become a bowler temporarily. The veteran all-rounder chose the second option as he was in no mood to go out.
He agreed to bowl off-spin and began to operate with two slips, a leg slip and a short leg in place. Woakes bowled the next four balls as an off-spinner and conceded 6 runs, including four. Just after Chris Woakes’ over, things returned to normal and the pacers were allowed to operate again.
Seeing all these things happening in the middle, England’s red-ball captain Ben Stokes was absolutely shocked and showed a stunned reaction from the dressing room while spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel watched on nervously. Also, Joe Root was left cracking up watching Chris Woakes bowl spin.
Watch: Chris Woakes launches Off-Spin against Sri Lanka
FOR WHAT YOU’RE DOING! ⚠️
Bad light means Chris Woakes is bowling spin 😆 pic.twitter.com/TPYSnwXiEN
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 7, 2024
Ben Stokes’ reaction is EVERYTHING 🤣 pic.twitter.com/OgMyMuJKyQ
— England’s Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) September 7, 2024
Meanwhile, speaking on BBC Test Match Special, former England bowler Phil Tufnell called the umpires’ decision to force Woakes to bowl off-spin “unbelievably bad”.
“This is not very good for Test cricket,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. I have to squint to see it, it’s that brilliant. I’m completely baffled by this.”
It is noteworthy that poor lighting has been a major issue in the ongoing Test series between England and Sri Lanka and people like Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain have been highly critical of it.
“It’s about the paying public. Test cricket is under more threat than any other format. If it was a T20, they would be playing. I would try anything to find a way for the paying public to get better value,” Michael Vaughan had said on day one.
“What play have we seen in the last 15 minutes that has posed a physical threat? You have to go to a pink ball and move on. Teams will have to accept that they are out of luck. All these ideas are not going to appease everyone. I just want to see them move on,” Vaughan added.
