Follow UsThere have been plenty of unusual dismissals in cricket, but being out handling the ball has to be one of the weirdest ways in which a batter can be dismissed. South Africa batter David Bedingham came close to being the latest victim of such a dismissal during Day 2 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2025 against Australia at Lord's.
Facing Beau Webster, Bedingham, who was batting on 31 at that point, inside edged one into his pad flap. The batter then removed the ball with his hand and dropped it onto the ground, as Alex Carey ran in from behind to take the catch. However, it would not have counted, as the on-field umpires declared it dead as soon as the ball was trapped between the pads.
Carey appealed, and had it been given out, it would have once again stirred up the "Spirit of Cricket" debate. Incidentally, Carey was in the centre of things two years ago at the same venue when he ran Jonny Bairstow out after the England batter left the crease at the end of the over before the ball was called dead.
"Yeah, I think I panicked big time," Bedingham said at stumps on Day 2.
"Because Carey was standing up, he was quite close. The umpires said, regardless, it was dead ball. But I think the way I picked up the ball and dropped it came across a bit dodgy."
Australia captain Pat Cummins in his post-match press conference that he would have withdrawn the appeal anyway. However, he chose not to do so two years ago in the Ashes.
"I'm just glad they withdrew the appeal, because there [would be] more controversy and that type of stuff," Bedingham said.
"I'm glad nothing happened out of it, really. The slip cordon just told me, 'don't panic, just leave it…' but in the moment, I think I panicked big-time."
Since 2017, handling the ball has been classified as 'obstructing the field.' The first such victim after the rule change was Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim, who was given out for obstructing the field in a Test against New Zealand in Mirpur in 2023.
Bedingham top-scored for South Africa with 45 of 111 deliveries and also put up a useful 64-run stand with Temba Bavuma (36) after his side was reduced to 30/4 at one point.
Australia ended the second day with their noses slightly in front, having secured a lead of 218 with two wickets left.
Bedingham feels that his side have a great opportunity to go on to win the match and script history. "It's just an amazing chance and we are all very, very excited about the opportunity to win," he said.
"Could go either way, but us as a team we are very, very excited and there's a lot of belief in the dressing room. When they started batting in the third innings, we would've definitely taken 220/8. So we are very confident, there's a massive belief in this team."
Despite runs on the board, Cummins feels Australia will still have to bowl well to win, given South Africa's quality with the bat.
"The trend of the game is the runs are coming down. It's still pretty difficult out there, so it's set up pretty well for a day-three finish, you'd imagine, tomorrow, but we are going to have to bowl well still in the fourth innings."