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In a bizarre incident, Australian cricketer Jake Fraser-McGurk was allowed to continue batting after being given out by the umpire in a Sheffield Shield match. In the 16th clash of the Australian cricket tournament, Victoria locked horns with South Australia at the Adelaide Oval, starting on November 28, Tuesday. In what turned out to be one of the most unique and bizarre incidents in cricketing history, South Australia’s McGurk was allowed to continue batting after being given out.
The 21-year-old’s inning started on a rough note and he was given out at just 19 runs. He was caught out by Peter Handscomb at the slips while attempting a cover drive against left-arm spinner Doug Warren. Although the Victorians started celebrating the umpire’s decision, the cricketer didn’t leave the crease before being allowed to continue batting by the rivals.
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The batter then went on to smash another notable century and pulled a score of 106-ball 101 and guided his side’s score from 16-4 to 252/10. After the match, he told Wisden, “I missed it by probably three feet, it spun a fair bit and I think it came off Sam Harper’s glove before Peter Handscomb caught it. Sometimes they are just like ‘yay’ … and it could have been not a serious appeal, but then the umpire’s starting to nod his head and I was a bit in disbelief.”
He added, “So I started walking off, then seconds later he (umpire Michael Graham-Smith) changed his decision and the Vic boys weren’t too happy with that because they think they had a few unlucky decisions." Coming back to the match, South Australia won the toss and opted to field first. Victoria pulled a score of 278 with all wickets down, while the former team got bundled out on 252.
