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I’d like to see cricket’s governing body reconsider the rule that automatically deems a ball bowled by a spinner down the leg side as a wide in limited over and T20 cricket. Instead, the interpretation of a wide for spinners should align with the standards used in Test, first-class, and other red-ball cricket formats.
Paul Ryan
Founder
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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513 Followers
513 Followers
I’d like to see cricket’s governing body reconsider the rule that automatically deems a ball bowled by a spinner down the leg side as a wide in limited over and T20 cricket. Instead, the interpretation of a wide for spinners should align with the standards used in Test, first-class, and other red-ball cricket formats.
If a spinner bowls a delivery that spins past the batter’s pads without making contact, it’s in my opinion poor or lazy batting. Penalising the bowler and fielding team in such cases seems unjustified.
If a spinner chooses to bowl down the leg side, trusting their skill and the keeper’s ability to cleanly collect the ball, all kudos to the bowler.
It’s particularly unfair when a spinner lands the ball on off or middle stump, and it turns sharply past the batter’s bat and pads only to be called a wide. In such scenarios, the onus should be on the batter to be better.
This rule adjustment would encourage spinners to keep spinning the ball (which is what we all want) and encourage batters rather than unfairly penalising bowlers.
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