Cricketers use various tricks and tricks to catch catches. There is also controversy over some catches taken at the boundary. This time, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), the law-making bodies of cricket, are going to make new rules. If the new rules come into effect, some catches that were previously considered as catches at the boundary will be considered illegal.
‘Bunny-hop’ or jumping the ball from outside the boundary to zero multiple times and then catching it again will not be allowed. This information was reported by ESPN Cricinfo in a report. This new rule is being prepared for implementation this month and will be added to the ICC playing conditions. Later, it will be included in the MCC rules in October next year.
This type of catch was originally controversial in the 2023 Big Bash. Sydney Sixers’ Jordan Silk’s catch touched the boundary (jumped) a second time and returned it to the boundary by Brisbane Heat’s Michael Ness. After jumping to zero and touching the ball a second time, he stepped outside the boundary and ran inside to take the catch. Such a catch will no longer be legal under the new MCC rules. After the controversy over that catch, the ICC Cricket Committee requested the MCC to consider the catch rules earlier this year.
However, such incidents have also happened in the Big Bash. When the discussion about Nesser’s catch came up, he said that Matt Renshaw took Matthew Wade’s catch in the 2020 Big Bash. Ness was inspired by that catch. At that time, there was a debate about the validity of the two catches. At that time, many said that the rules of boundary catches should be changed, which were last updated in 2010.
The new rule states that a fielder can only touch the ball once by jumping outside the boundary. Then he has to enter the boundary and take the catch. Even if he is flying, he cannot touch the ball more than once outside the boundary. In the Big Bash League, after jumping to the net and pushing the ball up a second time, he steps outside the boundary and runs inside to take the catch. Thus, even if there are one or two fielders, he will be allowed to touch the ball by jumping outside the boundary at most once.
New instructions have been added to the MCC’s Catching Rules in three clauses of 19.5.2. There are also instructions for taking such catches by multiple fielders. In the case of relay catches, i.e., catches by multiple fielders, it is said that a fielder who touches the ball outside the boundary line, even if another teammate takes the catch, must return to the boundary line. And there is also discussion about adding a boundary or run instead of an out for touching the ball a second time.
