David Bedingham was involved in an interesting incident in the closing minutes of the first session on Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC 2025) final between Australia and South Africa.
On Thursday, June 12, a sizable audience flocked to the Lord’s Cricket Ground to see the exciting action in the year’s largest red-ball match. They saw a thrilling battle between bat and ball as well as a humorous occurrence in the final over of the first session, which was bowled by Australian all-rounder Beau Webster.
Bedingham attempted to defend the ball but was only able to get an inside edge as the seam-bowling all-rounder produced a nip-backer on a length. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was standing up to the stumps, attempted to slip in and get the ball after it became stuck in his pad. But David Bedingham was quick to respond, removing the ball with his right hand and dropping it to the ground.
The only Australian fielder to appear to appeal was Usman Khawaja, who was standing at slips and believed the right-handed hitter had handled the ball. But before going back to their posts, umpires Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney spoke briefly.
“The ball is considered dead once it gets lodged in the pad,” legendary former Australian opener Matthew Hayden informed from the commentary box.
What do the MCC rules say?
The ball is deemed dead by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) when it becomes stuck between a batter’s equipment. This is stated in Rule 20.1.1:
“The ball becomes dead when whether played or not, it becomes trapped between the bat and the person of a batter or between items of his/her clothing or equipment.”
South Africa entered lunch at 121/5, behind Australia’s first innings total by 91 runs. On the other side of the interval, though, the Proteas lost two quick wickets as Pat Cummins bowled an over that saw Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen go.
