Video: Ben Cutting falls victim to a rare kind of dismissal during Brisbane Heat's practice session
Australian bowler and a handy lower order batsman, Ben Cutting was involved in a very weird ‘dismissal’ during defending champions Brisbane Heat’s practice session prior to the start of the Big Bash League yesterday.
Breaking of the willow is not an uncommon sight these days. However, there haven’t been many unfortunate batsmen who have got out in that fashion.
During the practice, while digging out a yorker, Cutting broke his bat, a part of which then removed the bail on his off-stump. Watch:
Under the current rules of cricket, which were modified in 2010, any part of the bat, even if it’s broken, disturbs the bails and breaks the wickets, the batsman is deemed out.
It’s a very rare form of dismissal and has in fact happened twice in Test cricket, in 1921.
Ted McDonald of Australia, during the 3rd Test of the Ashes series that year, broke the bat of Andy Ducat, with the broken pieces of the bat disturbing the bail. However, the ball was caught by the slip fielder, and he was deemed ‘caught out.’
In the same year, McDonald again broke a bat, this time of South African Billy Zulch, fragments of which then broke the stumps and he was out ‘hit-wicket’.