“Did it pitch in line”: D’Arcy Short’s honest response to Matthew Wade leaves commentators in splits in BBL 2022-23

During the 49th match of the ongoing 12th season of the Big Bash League between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes in Brisbane, Brisbane Heat came back strongly in the second half of their innings to put on board a competitive 162/8 in 20 overs after being asked to bat first by Hobart Hurricanes captain Matthew Wade.

Having scored 66/2 in the first 10 overs, the home team managed to score another 96 runs in the last 10 overs primarily due to batters Matthew Renshaw (41) and Sam Hain’s (33*) contributions. Although wicket-keeper batter Jimmy Peirson (3) batted with a paltry strike rate of 37.50, pacer James Bazley (13*) hitting a six and a four in the last over helped their case.

Pacer Joel Paris was the pick of the visiting bowlers with figures of 4-0-15-2. While Paris’ new-ball bowling partner Riley Meredith also picked a couple of wickets, all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and pacer Nathan Ellis picked a wicket apiece at the Gabba tonight.

D’Arcy Short’s hilarious response to Matthew Wade leaves commentators in splits

It was on the last ball before the halfway mark of Heat’s innings that Wade and Hurricanes part-time bowler D’Arcy Short united to leave the commentators in splits.

Bowling to Marnus Labuschagne (28) from over the wicket, left-arm wrist-spinner Short induced the batter into playing a sweep. With Labuschagne completely missing the ball, Short and Wade appealed in unison for an lbw dismissal.

Not given by the umpire, Wade considered it right to seek Short’s opinion before opting for DRS. “Did it pitch in line,” Wade asked Short. “No,” the bowler nodded innocently.

Bowlers and wicket-keepers joining hands to appeal unsuccessfully even when knowing the eventual result is a common practice in cricket. Players of the fielding team mostly do the same hoping to benefit from a potential err by the umpire. Readers must note that the same, if done excessively, can also result in a deduction in match fee for the players involved.