VIDEO | Unfazed umpire rules batsman not out despite Craig Milesâ dramatic âback rollâ appeal
Craig Miles pulled off an appeal for the ages
|Monday was certainly the âday of appealsâ in the Bob Willis Trophy. Glamorganâs double-appeal was quite the spectacle, but their antics were blown out of water by Warwickshireâs Craig Miles. In a desperate attempt to get the umpire to raise his finger, Miles pulled off a ludicrous back-roll appeal.
There is something about this Bob Willis Trophy. Aside from it being a brand new format which has levelled the playing field for counties across the country, it has also, just two rounds in, already produced countless moments of sheer absurdity that cricket fans were starved of for five months thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were many candidates for Mondayâs âbizarre moment of the dayâ, but Craig Milesâ clownery in the game between Gloucestershire and Warwickshire might just have taken the cake.
With Graeme van Buuren and Ryan Higgins in the midst of a 77-run partnership for Gloucestershire, Warwickshire skipper Will Rhodes summoned his main man Craig Miles to break the threatening stand. Well, Miles did not quite end up breaking the partnership, but he sure ended up giving a moment of ridiculousness for the ages (ended up breaking his back following a roll).
After striking the batsmanâs pad in front of leg-stump through a fine, full out-swinger, Miles, along with his Warwickshire teammates, pulled off an extremely loud and aggressive appeal and pleaded with the umpire to rule the batsman out. Any weak umpire might have succumbed under that pressure - thatâs how good and strong the appeal was - but unfortunately for Warwickshire, the official remained unfazed and unperturbed by the pressure put on him by the fielding side.Â
The appeal lasted for no less than five strong seconds but then, the bowler Miles took the already-existing drama to a whole new level by pulling off a back-roll in order to convince the umpire. To his and his teamâs dismay though, Milesâ antics did not even budge the umpire, who stood still like a lifeless statue until the bowling side withdrew their appeal.Â
As absurd as it looked, the bowling side can feel hard done by, though, as to the naked eye, the ball looked like it was going to crash on to leg-stump. Well, such is life.Â
UPDATE | A HUGE appeal from Craig Miles. đŁ
â Warwickshire CCC đ (@WarwickshireCCC) August 10, 2020
Gloucestershire are 107/3, a lead of 70.
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