Former England pacer Stuart Broad was seen using a strange tactic in the recently concluded fifth Ashes 2023 Test against Australia. Interestingly, Broad’s antics worked in both the innings. In the first innings, he indirectly played a part in Australian batter Marnus Labushagne‘s dismissal by just flipping the bails at the striker’s end. He did the same in the second innings as well.
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It all happened in the 91st over of the Australian innings when Broad wasn’t able to dismiss spinner Todd Murphy in spite of beating him time and again. Yet to pick a wicket in the innings, he again took refuge in fortune by flipping the bails at the non-striker’s end. Quite bizarrely, Murphy edged the ball on the very next delivery.
There have been many cricketers who follow superstitions on or off the field. Call it a master stroke or anything, but the way it worked in Broad’s favour did erupt the crowd into frenzy as England were able to pick a wicket after more than nine overs.
Readers must note that the conventional wooden bails are used in the longest format of the game nowadays. These have been replaced by zing bails in most of the limited-over matches. Also known as LED bails, they are way more expensive than wooden ones.
Cricket Bails Price
Cricket bails are available to buy in India from various online and offline stores around the country. Talking about the price of wooden bails, they are very economical and are available for as low as INR 149. The higher quality bails are around INR 699. It is needless to say that buying Zing bails in this price range is impossible.
LED Bails are also available in offline stores and on e-commerce platforms. Their price starts at around INR 3,500 which is more than five times the wooden ones. The light bails are heavier in weight as well. That’s why, we have witnessed multiple incidents of bails remaining intact despite the ball touching the stumps.
It is for the very same reason that the players are not allowed to take the stumps home after winning a match. Former Indian captain MS Dhoni wanted to gift the stumps to his successor Virat Kohli on his first ODI series win as a full-time captain. However, he had to settle in with a signed cricket ball due to the same reason.
