In the dying stages of Day 4 of the ongoing second Ashes Test match between England and Australia at Lord's, a controversial decision ignited a major outpour among former cricketers and fans as social media went on an overdrive. The incident occurred during the third last over of the day bowled by Cameron Green when Ben Duckett failed to keep his attempted uppercut on the ground and hand a catch to Mitchell Starc, who was stationed at deep fine leg.
At first, it appeared as if Starc had completed a clean catch and Australian players burst into a massive celebration. As Duckett was ambling towards the dressing room, the third umpire intervene and deemed Starc's catch illegal, claiming the Aussie was not in control of the ball.
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Reacting to the controversial incident, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) put out a tweet and provided an explanation behind the third umpire's decision.
"In relation to the below incident, Law 33.3 clearly states that a catch is only completed when the fielder has "complete control over the ball and his/her own movement," MCC said in a tweet.
"The ball cannot touch the ground before then. In this particular incident, Mitchell Starc was still sliding as the ball rubbed the ground, therefore he was not in control of his movement," the tweet added.
Meanwhile, England ended Day 4 with a score of 114/4 on the board. The Three Lions recovered well after being reduced to 45/4 by the Australians. Opener Duckett remained unbeaten on 50 runs while captain Ben Stokes found some rhythm with the bat and scored 29 not out.
Despite the unbeaten 69-run partnership between Duckett and Stokes, Australia remain firm favourites to win the Test match and take a 2-0 lead in the series. England still needs 257 runs to win the game while the Baggy Greens require just six more wickets to secure a victory.Â
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