VIDEO | Umpire takes four runs off Marnus Labuschagne after Stuart Broad pleads to change decision
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Being a batsman has its own perks, with one of them being the umpire sometimes giving you extra runs mistaking leg byes for a shot off the bat. Today, Marnus Labuschagne was awarded four runs in one such incident but Stuart Broad then spoiled the party and got those extra runs taken away from him.
When news came out that Steve Smith was going to miss the Headingley Test, all English players breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that this would probably be their best chance to level the series, as they'll now get to bowl against a relatively timid batting line-up. However, agonizingly for them, it looked like Smith transferred his superpowers to Marnus Labuschagne, who in the 30-year-old's absence struck third consecutive fifties to continue tormenting England.
On Day 3, the Queenslander resumed his innings on 53*, trying to extend the lead for his country as much as he can. Four overs into the day, on the fourth ball of the 62nd, Labuschagne tried to hook a Stuart Broad short ball, which looked like it took the top edge before racing off to the fence. Â
The umpire signalled it as a boundary assuming it came off the Australian's bat, taking his score to 60*. However, replays on the big screen showed that the ball had indeed come off Labuschagne's helmet and not his bat. Seeing this, a cheeky Broad had a cunning plan in his mind. First, he went to the stump mic and shouted "Could you take those four runs off please?" before pleading the umpire to actually reverse the decision.
Funnily enough, the on-field umpire Joel Wilson obliged and went on to reverse his decision, correcting the call and make it as leg-byes. This also meant that Labuschagne's score went back to being 56, and Broad got four runs taken off his bowling figures. Cheeky, cheeky lad!
