England allrounder Jacob Bethell may not get to bowl against Sri Lanka in their Super 8s encounter of the T20 World Cup at Pallekele on Sunday. At the same venue earlier this month, Bethell, who bowls slow left-arm orthodox, had taken four wickets against the same opposition in a 3-0 whitewash.
Now let’s find out what is stopping Bethell from bowling. Actually Bethell is carrying an injury on the left ring finger and is wearing a protective dressing. He injured his finger while fielding against the West Indies earlier in the tournament.
As per the tournament rules and guidelines, players can wear protective dressing only if the umpires provide their consent. But to be allowed to bowl is a totally different prospect, it has been seen in international cricket. Fielders are allowed to wear protective dressings but the bowlers are not, for their tape can help them with the gripping of the ball as well as it can cause visibility issues for batters.
It’s nothing new! Last year at the Champions Trophy, Ravindra Jadeja was asked to take his tape off before he could bowl, during India’s semis against Australia. In England’s previous matches against Italy and Scotland, they had asked for the umpires’ permission for Bethell to bowl but it didn’t go their way.
“The rule with the strapping on your finger isn’t quite helping because he’s got a decent cut on his finger so he’d have to have strapping.
“If there’s some way we can get around that then we’d like to bowl him. But at the minute, I don’t think it’s possible,” Daily Mail quoted England captain Harry Brook as saying.
There is a strong rain forecast ahead of the match, which means the teams might go into the contest with different strategies. Brook, however, is not looking too far ahead because it can cause problems.
“You just have to prepare as if it is a T20. You can sometimes go down a bit of a rabbit hole thinking you’re going to play a five-over game and it ends up being a T20 and you play it slightly differently,” he said.
“We’ve just got to prepare as if it is a T20 game and hope the rain stays away. If it doesn’t, we’ve got to adapt and realise you’ve got to play the game slightly differently,” he added.
England are unbeaten against Sri Lanka in their last 11 T20I matches, meaning they should fancy another win against the co-hosts of the tournament.
