Jul 11 2009
Cricket: Ed Joyce’s wicket pocketed in freak dismissal
Ed Joyce may have missed out on making this summer’s Ashes squad, but that at least gives him the chance to get a few runs for his county. He’s had something of a golden week, guiding Sussex to the Friends Provident 50-over trophy final with a century against Gloucestershire on Monday.
Against Warwickshire, though, Joyce reached 29 before his luck took a turn for the strange as he was caught by short leg Jonathan Trott in bizarre fashion. Joyce went to sweep, and would have been forgiven for thinking his nicely timed shot would have made it to the boundary as the fielder took evasive action.
The ball hit Trott, however, and somehow found its way into his pocket. He promptly removed it and claimed the catch, and Joyce walked back to the pavilion with a rather stunned look on his face.
BBC video - watch Ed Joyce’s unusual dismissal
It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened, either. In a 2001 Test match against Sri Lanka, Marcus Trescothick was caught by short leg Russel Arnold when the ball got caught between his arm and shirt.
After this, Sri Lanka close-in fielders became well known for wearing clothing three sizes too large for them in the hope something like this might happen again. Whilst their tactic achieved a moderate amount of success, I don’t ever recall a fielder catching the ball in their pocket.
Dismissals of this type are ruled legal under Law 32, which explicitly states:
A catch shall be considered to have been fairly made if… the ball is hugged to the body of the catcher or accidentally lodges in his clothing or, in the case of the wicket-keeper, in his pads.
…
However, it is not a fair catch if the ball has touched a protective helmet worn by a fielder, although the ball remains in play.
So, a fielder can legally catch the ball in any part of his clothing apart from his helmet. Additionally, if the ball hits any item of clothing or equipment (usually helmets) within the field of play that is not worn by a fielder, then five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side.
Speaking of helmets, check out how Kevin Pietersen got out against West Indies in 2007.
