Ian Bell Run Out
Ian Bell was out and MS Dhoni should not have withdrawn his appeal. The law of the game is clear, as was established by the umpire’s decision to give him out. There is no argument there. So now the debate goes to the spirit of the game. I see nothing against the spirit of the game in letting the umpire’s decision stand. There are questions to be asked, though. Was Bell attempting a run? Or was he just careless in the way he handled himself? Like most of you, I watched that replay over a dozen times. It was clear to me that Ian Bell was not jogging off the field but rather was trying to get a fourth run in. As he jogged half way down the pitch he noticed Eion Morgan well grounded in his crease. Instead of running back and grounding his bat, Bell stopped jogging and continued to walk toward the bowlers end. There are two possible things that went through Bell’s mind. If he thought it was a four (I don’t think he did) then he violated cricket 101 by assuming it was a boundary. If on the...