Match between India and Australia (Ind vs Aus). Australia is batting after winning the toss. Two wickets for 91 runs in 18 overs. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were settled at the crease. Then Rohit Sharma called Ravindra Jadeja to bowl the 19th over. Jaddu was getting ready to bowl. Then umpire Richard Illingworth stopped him. And asked him to remove the tape from the bowling hand. Jadeja clarified that he was injured. But on the umpire's persistent insistence, he had to remove the tape.
When Jadeja removed the tape, there was blood on his fingers. During this time, Marnus Labuschagne, standing at the non-striker end, was near the umpire so that he could see what was happening. However, it is not clear whether any batsman complained about the removal of the tape. But it is generally believed that the umpire does not take this action without any complaint. According to the MCC rules, the batsman and the umpire have the right to ask the bowler to remove any thing from his hand that is obstructing the batsman's vision.
Jadeja did not get a single wicket before the tape was removed. But after that he took two wickets including the wicket of Labuschagne. This incident with Jadeja reminded me of an old incident when former Australian player Dean Jones had asked Windies pacer Curtly Ambrose to remove the wrist band. And the Australian team had to suffer the consequences of that.
When Dean Jones had Ambrose's wrist band removed
World Series Cup Final in 1993. Australia and West Indies qualified for the best of three finals. They faced each other in the first final on 16 January. West Indies batted first and scored 238 runs for the loss of 8 wickets thanks to Brian Lara's fifty.
In response, Australia made a steady start and added 41 runs for the first wicket. After this, Curtly Ambrose, who came to bowl as the first change, dismissed David Boon. After this, Dean Jones came to bat at number three. Jones went to Mark Taylor standing at the other end before taking the strike. And then went to umpire Terry Prue. And complained about Ambrose's white wrist band, which was allegedly making it difficult for the batsmen to face the white ball.
Curtly Ambrose has mentioned this incident in his autobiography 'Time to Talk: Curtly Ambrose'. Ambrose writes,
I thought it was a stupid request. I was not ready to take it off. But our captain Richie Richardson persuaded me to do it. But I was angry. Till that time I was bowling normally. But then I started bowling very fast. I really wanted to make Dean Jones uncomfortable. I understand the Australian dressing room was also not happy with Jones provoking me.
According to Wisden's report, even the Australian team was not happy with Dean Jones' decision to remove the wrist band. Jones mentions a funny incident and says,
There were eleven West Indian players on the field and an Australian player was sledging me. That was Mark Taylor. He was saying, I have two kids, what are you doing?
What happened after that is history
Dean Jones wrote in an article much after this match that the next three balls after this were the fastest he had faced in his career. An angry Ambrose attacked Jones who was batting with a broken thumb. Jones left a good length ball. The next ball was even faster. Jones left it. Then the third ball hit his pad. But it seemed to be above his knee. The appeal on this was rejected by the umpire.
As the innings progressed, Ambrose became more dangerous. He continued bowling fast and dismissed Mark Taylor for 28 runs. After this, he also dismissed Ian Healy, Tony Dodemaide and Craig McDermott. Healy's wicket came on a brilliant slow ball which broke his stumps. This was the most special. After this, a smile spread on Ambrose's face.
Curtly Ambrose finished his spell with 5-32. That is, five wickets for 32 runs in 10 overs. With his help, West Indies bowled out Australia for 214 runs. Later Dean Jones admitted that he had made a mistake by provoking Ambrose.
PC:The Lallantop
