Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

The Spirit of Cricket has been bounded about the media this week, at first I thought they were talking about the ghost of WG Grace; instead, it was the Ian Bell incident at the Trent Bridge Test against India.

So much has been said about the Bell run out, it is difficult to know where everyone stands on this issue, including myself. The biggest fact is that the ball wasn’t Dead. Bell must off thought the ball hit the boundary and it would have been Dead, there was no signal from the umpire, so it couldn’t off been Dead. Bell was out of his ground and he was run out; followed by a correct decision from the umpires to give him out.

Now the next thing to consider is the timing of the dismissal, right on tea. If it happened the over before, I’m sure Bell would have not left his crease until the ball was returned to the wicket-keeper or the umpires while they checked if the ball had crossed the boundary ropes, the ball would have been considered Dead and he could then leave his crease.

With me so far…..? So what happened in that Indian dressing room during tea, not much eating of cucumber sandwiches I expect! MS Dhoni saying it didn’t feel right, the Indian team talking about it, plus the interference of some top brass from the England camp resulted in Dhoni giving Bell a reprieve, and out he came after tea.

Bell admits he made a mistake, a schoolboy error in fact! As for Dhoni, he claimed he done it for the Spirit of the Game, risking a fierce reaction from the Indian media (if you think our media is bad, have a look at some of the Indian papers, you can be hero to zero quicker than it takes me to drink a pint of Thatchers!).

When I was learning the game of cricket when I was a youngster, the main thing I was always told was to never leave your crease while batting (Law 29), as some other spotty kid could quite easily swipe of your bails (not nice for a young boy!), and you don’t get another chance. And while learning the laws of the game recently, knowing about when the ball was Dead (Law 23) was always drummed into you. Perhaps Bell should read the Laws of Cricket, and a matter of fact I wonder how many cricketers have actually read the rules, including first class players, not many I expect, in fact I would say it’s less than 1%.

So what exactly is the Spirit of Cricket?  Well the MCC remains responsible for the Laws of Cricket. However, it has long believed that the game should be played in accordance with its traditional 'spirit', as well as within its Laws. In the late 1990s, two distinguished MCC members (and ex-England captains), Ted Dexter and Lord (Colin) Cowdrey, sought to enshrine the 'Spirit of Cricket' in the game's Laws. This would remind players of their responsibility for ensuring that cricket is always played in a truly sportsmanlike manner.

So a bowler always appealing when the ball strikes the pad, is this within the Spirit of the Game? A batsmen who does not walk when he clearly edges the ball, again is this within the Spirit of the Game?

I have been in a couple of incidents myself when the Spirit of the Game could have been questioned. Notably I once ran out a non-striking batsman, while he was backing up and I was coming in to bowl. He was half way down the pitch and I was in my run up, so I felt I had every right to throw down the wicket, I did, appealed and the umpire gave him out, correctly (Law 42). This was at a six-a-side competition at Cannington, there is more to the story than just this paragraph, the upshot of it all was that it is now folklore in Stowey, and the non-striker I ran out has never spoken to me since, apart from a heated exchange on the boundary shortly after!

Did I break the Spirit of the Game? It’s in the rules and there is no such thing as giving a warning.

That’s enough about that, something more serious now; can Somerset actually win the County Championship? Three in a row now! Somerset was staring down a barrel at 93-7 against Sussex, with Monty at one stage bowling seven overs, of which six were maidens, for three wickets and only one run conceded. But he didn’t get young Jos Buttler, who scored a ton and turned the game on its head. With The Fonz taking ten wickets in the match and Somerset winning by a canter, it now looks like another nail biting finish to the season.

Now with the T20 quarter-final against Nottinghamshire today, plus a semi-final in the CB40 just a few wins away, hold on for a fast ride – do I dare look at my betting slip and work out how much?

Over Stowey didn’t have the greatest of days yesterday, with over 13 players unavailable, both sides didn’t quite get the result they anticipated. I got the call up at about midday on Saturday, so must have been really short, or desperate as someone said to me. I worked it out, I must be 37^th on the pecking order of selection, and I do hear sometimes that the selection committee even overlook position 37 and ask someone from the youth side to play! You can tell I haven’t played for a few years, as I absolutely ache this morning, all I done was walk from fine leg to fine leg, face four balls (not out though, thanks to a juggler of a wicket-keeper), and umpired for 20 overs, certainly got my £5’s worth.

Great to see Rhys Satchell bagging six wickets yesterday, a jug of cider  when you are ready please Rhys, plus Mr Sortwell still owes one…. I bet he gets lager just to spite me!

Right, it’s nearly 10.57 and time for a pint. The tour is only a few weeks away!!!!!