County Championship | Twitter reacts as Louis Kimber 'hands his wicket' to Gloucestershire in bizarre fashion
Players do make mistakes on the field, and they suffer consequences for their ‘inappropriate’ faults. Similarly, Louis Kimber’s brain fade moment in the County Championship—handling the ball for a split second before realizing it was a mistake— cost him his wicket due to obstructing the field.
During the County Championship’s Division 2 fixture between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire, middle-order batter Louis Kimber made one stupid mistake that caught a lot of attention. Batting on 34 off 65 balls, the 26-year-old steadily defended Oliver Price’s off-break, but when he saw the ball was going to break the stumps after bouncing off the deck, he mistakenly grabbed the ball for a moment. Within a second he realized he made an error and released the ball, but by then, Price and the other Gloucestershire teammates appealed for obstructing the field.
Following the appeal, the on-field umpires Graham Lloyd and Paul Baldwin had a chat and confirmed Kimber’s dismissal. Although Kimber could easily send the ball away with his legs, a schoolboy error led him to walk back to the pavilion. The netizens were quick to react to the incident, with mixed reactions pouring across all over the world. Notably, MCC’s Law 37 clearly reads ‘the Striker, on appeal, shall be out should wilful obstruction by either Batsman prevent a catch being made,’ so it was a straightforward decision for the umpires’ after Gloucestershire’s appeal.
Not in recent times!
Have you ever seen a wicket like this?
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) June 13, 2023
Louis Kimber is given out obstructing the field!#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/brARoGFjuw
Yes remembered!
Gooch was out similarly in a test - handled the ball
— Section 18 Warwickshire Bear (@78DarknessTour) June 13, 2023
He was not aware of what's going on!
This is handling the ball and not obstructing the field. Steve Waugh i remember famously given out against India handling the ball
— Sandeep (@sandeep_Vishu) June 14, 2023
Hahaha! The Legend Graham Gooch does it better :P
The legend that is Graham Gooch did it against Big Merv! pic.twitter.com/EQTTm5q1ua
— Daniel Woodrow (@Daniel_Woodrow) June 13, 2023
He shouldn't have done this!
He knew immediately he did it thus turning his back to the umpire quickly..just one of those moments where he reacted before engaging the grey matter!
— Matt Bourne (@Bashypack) June 13, 2023
But it's not how it works!
Not Out. He wasn't stopping the ball hitting the wicket.
— Carl Smith 🇺🇦 🦄 (@blazercarl) June 13, 2023
Hmm!
Gooch '93 Ashes comes to mind - that was more clear-cut.
— Brandon (@b3108) June 14, 2023
Handling ball is not accepted!
Graham Gooch was out in the same way, when playing for England, handled the ball.
— Stephen Elsley ⚒️ Ⓥ 🌱 (@stephen_elsley) June 13, 2023
Yeah but can't help now!
What an odd thing to do. Zero chance that it was going on to hit the stumps.
— Shawls 🏏📚🎬 (@Shawls259) June 13, 2023
Yes yes was given out!
Micheal Vaughan vs India
— kek (@zignagnigna) June 13, 2023