Despite the fury, Cameron Green’s catch leaves no grounds for complaint

A s the second session wound onwards on the fourth day of the World Test Championship final, the Oval was a cheerful place. On a perfect, warm afternoon, the bays that were largely full of India supporters erupted after every boundary as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill made a bright start to a massive run chase.

Soon it was much less bucolic, with a fair share of those fans shouting “Cheat!” at the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green. Others lined up to give him a gob-full as he climbed the stairs through the crowd at tea. Fielding in the gully, Green’s crime had been to throw out his hand for a low catch off Gill that the TV umpire, Richard Kettleborough, ruled fair.

We may as well get into the detail of Law 33, because the months to come will bring more low catches and the same feverish round of disagreements. They will centre on whether a ball touched the ground before a catch was taken and so whether a dismissal should stand. Let’s put an argument on the record.

First, it is significant the old “soft signal” is gone. That meant a standing umpire unsure about a catch could indicate whether they thought it was likely to be out or not, before asking the TV umpire for evidence to overturn that call. These days we go straight to the TV umpire, who is fully responsible for the ruling.

Low catches cause such discord because there is a gap between the way the laws are written and the way cricket is played and umpired. The text says that a batter is out if a ball is held as a fair catch “before it touches the ground”.

A fair catch starts “when the ball first comes into contact with a fielder’s person and shall end when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement”.

Control is interpreted as