Revelation news to NZ coach
Comments from a former top umpire suggesting that England were incorrectly awarded an extra run in the Cricket World Cup final came as a surprise to Black Caps coach Gary Stead.
‘‘I didn’t actually know that,’’ Stead said. ‘‘At the end of the day the umpires are there to rule and they’re human as well and like players sometimes errors are made.
‘‘That’s just the human aspect of sport and probably why we care so much as well.’’
Former umpire Simon Taufel said that according to Law 19.8, pertaining to an ‘‘overthrow or wilful act of fielder’’, England allrounder Ben Stokes should have only been credited for five runs, not six, when Martin Guptill’s throw stuck his bat and scampered away to the boundary for four overthrow runs.
Replays showed that Stokes and non-striker Adil Rashid had not crossed at the time of the throw.
‘‘There was a judgment error on the overthrow. The judgment error was the timing of when the fielder threw the ball. The act of the overthrow starts when the fielder releases the ball. That’s the act,’’ Taufel told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Chasing 242 for victory, England required nine from the final three balls of their regulation 50-overs. The Kiwi-born Stokes struck the ball into the deep off the third-last ball, and sprinted back for a second run.
But a throw from Guptill ricocheted off Stokes’ bat as the batsman dived home, rolling away to the boundary. England were awarded six runs and went on to reach the target, forcing a super over.
But Stead acknowledged there was nothing New Zealand could do about it now and he has accepted the heart-breaking defeat, which was decided by England’s superior boundary total in one of the most pulsating one day internationals of all-time.
‘‘We can’t change that now and it will go down in history as perhaps one that might have got away from us. I don’t know, they’re all little things like that that as history goes on and as we keep seeing more sport then little things will probably be tidied up,’’ Stead said. ‘‘The technicalities and stuff around the rules they’re different in all tournaments. We knew what it was, we were just one run short. It’s a very hollow feeling that you can play 100 overs and score the same amount of runs and still lose the game. But that’s the technicalities of sport.’’
Stead he expected the ICC to review the rules in the wake of the World Cup final. England bowling hero Jofra Archer won the World Cup carrying the grief of a close cousin being shot dead in Barbados.
Archer, a rookie in the English team, was given the difficult task of bowling the Super Over after the final against New Zealand was tied after 100 overs of absorbing cricket. The Super Over was also tied with England winning the title on a countback of boundaries hit.
He was told as the World Cup began that Ashantio Blackman, 24, had been killed in Barbados on May 31.
Archer, 24, kept the family tragedy secret to concentrate on the tournament.
Archer’s father Frank revealed the family tragedy as England celebrated their remarkable victory at Lord’s with a fans celebration event at The Oval yesterday.
‘‘I’m sure there’s going to be many things they will look at over the whole tournament. I’m sure when they’re writing the rules they never expect the World Cup final to happen like that so I’m sure it’ll be reviewed, absolutely.’’