Stuart Broad was left angered after England batsman Hamza Sheikh’s controversial dismissal at the Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
The legendary fast bowler’s outburst followed a bizarre incident in the Super Sixes Group 2 contest against Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Sheikh was seen playing at a Ryan Simbi delivery, with the ball trapped beneath his foot after an inside edge. Sheikh then grabbed the ball to hand it back to his opponent. But the Zimbabwe team instead appealed to the umpire for the ball being handled without permission from the fielding side while the ball was live.
The incident left the young batsman perplexed, with commentary insisting Sheikh would be “livid” at the decision to be given out after a lengthy review.
Broad then took to X to react to the strange circumstances of the dismissal: “Oh get a grip. He’s passing a stationary ball back to the fielder? Doing him a favour! Cant give that out.”
The laws of the game cover this incident and state: “37.1.1 Either batter is out Obstructing the field if, except in the circumstances of 37.2, and while the ball is in play, he/she wilfully attempts to obstruct or distract the fielding side by word or action. See also Law 34 (Hit the ball twice).
“37.1.2 The striker is out Obstructing the field if, except in the circumstances of 37.2, in the act of receiving a ball delivered by the bowler, he/she wilfully strikes the ball with a hand not holding the bat. This will apply whether it is the first strike or a second or subsequent strike. The act of receiving the ball shall extend both to playing at the ball and to striking the ball more than once in defence of his/her wicket.”