NEW LOCAL RULE

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29363, 16 November 1960, Page 19

NEW LOCAL RULE

Overlap Of Boundaries

The Canterbury Cricket Association’s management committee last evening adopted a local rule to cover cases in which, where matches are being played on pitches dose together, a ball travelling towards a boundary is stopped by a participant in another match.

The rule was framed by Mr F. P. Hill, after a request at a previous meeting by Mr E. D. Milne, on behalf of the umpires. Mr Milne referred to the common occurrence of obstruction by a fieldsman where the boundaries of adjoining pitches overlapped.

Mr Hill’s recommendation, which was adopted by the management committee as an addition to the association’s local rules, was:—

‘‘Where two or more matches are being played on the same ground, and the boundaries for adjoining pitches overlap. the following will apply:—‘lf the ball in play is stopped or obstructed whether deliberately or otherwise by anyone other than a member of the fielding side, the umpire will, if in his opinion, the ball, if not stopped or obstructed, would have reached the boundary, signal the boundary in the usual manner, and the ball will thereupon be dead. If the ball would not, in the opinion of the umpire, have reached the boundary, play will continue as if it had not been obstructed or stopped; but in such case the striker shall not then be liable to be given out caught’.’’

During the discussion Mr Milne mentioned a case on a recent Saturday when a ball was caught by a man taking part in a match on an adjoining wicket. This man then threw the ball to a fieldsman from the same match as the batsman, and the question immediately arose as to whether or not the batsman was out caught, as the bail had not touched the ground, said Mr Milne. The new rule makes it impossible for a batsman to be out caught in this manner, but leaves it possible for him to be run out.