“The Wide Inspector”

Match: 15 / 351

Won by 7 runs

Team	Total
FFTMCC	142 - 2
R. Hadfield 36*, D. Emerson 32*
Hanney CC	135 - 2
T. Smith 1 - 14, C. Roberts 1 - 24

In the final over of the T20 match Hanney v FFTMCC, two near identical balls occurred, which will be of interest to Wide Inspectors worldwide. The right-handed batsman stepped away to leg, switched his stance to that of a left-handed batsman, before finally switching back and attempting to play a shot as a right-handed batsman. The delivery would have been very wide down leg-side for a RHB in a normal position, and was quite wide down leg-side for his final stance. Neither ball was called wide; the batsman and some of his team-mates seemed quite shocked, clearly believing that those deliveries should have been.

But, by changing stance to that of a left-hander, and by moving, the batsman actually gave the bowler a very wide angle for a legitimate (non-wide) delivery. For a wide to have been called, the ball would have had to be sufficiently wide of his final position for both a left- and a right-handed batsman, and sufficiently wide of a normal guard position for both a left- and a right-handed batsman. As a left-hander in the batsman’s final position would have been able to reach the ball by means of a normal cricket stroke, it is my belief that the on-field umpire was correct not to call wide, and that it was clever bowling. (In fact, the ball could probably have pitched entirely off the strip and not been a wide!)

Lazy umpires only signal half a wide.

[Source: The Laws of Cricket]

Law 25.1(a) – Judging a Wide

...the umpire shall adjudge it a Wide if... the ball passes wide of the striker where he is and which also would have passed wide of him standing in a normal guard position.

Law 25.2(a) – Delivery not a Wide

The umpire shall not adjudge a delivery as being a Wide if the striker, by moving, either

(i) causes the ball to pass wide of him... or

(ii) brings the ball sufficiently within his reach to be able to hit it by means of a normal cricket stroke.

In reply to various questions about changing stance from RHB to LHB, by changing stance, the striker gives up the normal “leg-side” Wide adjudication.

I thank you for your time.

‘The Wide Inspector’