Ashes controversy: MCC sheds light on the ruling of Mitchell Starc's catch in 2nd Test

The third umpire ruled the judgement in favour of Duckett, much to the surprise of Australia's fielders and Starc.

Mitchell Starc

Drama broke out in the last moments of Day 4 of the second Ashes Test on Saturday when third umpire Marais Erasmus controversially ruled that Mitchell Starc's catch attempt was not out. Ben Duckett, who was batting at on 50, attempted to play a lap shot but encountered a heavy upper edge and the ball drifted to the left of the fine leg, where Starc took a superb catch.

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However, it appeared that the Australia star wasn't fully in control of his pace because the ball only just touched the ground as he dove.

The third umpire ruled the judgement in favour of Duckett, much to the surprise of Australia's fielders and Starc, who had already raised his finger while communicating to a colleague.

The judgement soon sparked an uproar on social media as well as a discussion on the commentary panel, where Glenn McGrath joined Erasmus in calling the decision a "disgrace."

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting also spoke about the inconsistencies over such calls. He referred to Steve Smith's catch of Joe Root in the first innings of the Lord's Test and Ponting stated Starc looked more in control of his catch than Smith.

However, after the whole outrage on social media, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) posted a thread explaining why Erasmus was in the right while taking the decision.

The MCC cited law 33.3 of the rulebook, which states that a catch is completed only when a fielder is in control of the "ball and his/her own movement".

"In relation to the incident, Law 33.3 clearly states that a catch is only completed when the fielder has 'complete control over the ball and his/her own movement," the MCC wrote on their official Twitter account.

"The ball cannot touch the ground before then. In this particular incident, Mitchell Starc was still sliding as the ball rubbed the ground, therefore he was not in control of his movement."

A similar situation occurred during the World Test Championship (WTC) final where Cameron Green's catch of Shubman Gill sparked massive outrage on social media. Richard Kettleborough, the third umpire at the time, adjudged the India batter out while it looked like the ball had touched the ground.

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