In brief: An unusual incident during a Jersey versus Guernsey cricket match in June 2024 has led the Marylebone Cricket Club to introduce a new global Law of Cricket. The bowler lost control of a delivery, sent down a high looping ball, and then intercepted it himself before the batter could play it. The new Law comes into effect in October 2026.
The Incident That Stopped the World of Cricket
It happened on the first ball of the 19th over at KGV in Guernsey, during the inter-insular fixture between Guernsey and Jersey in June 2024. A bowler lost control of the ball, sending down a very high, looping delivery, before regathering it himself and denying the batter any opportunity to play the shot. It was, by any measure, a peculiar moment in a sport not short of peculiar moments.
The incident raised a question that, remarkably, the Laws of Cricket had never fully addressed: what should happen when a bowler deliberately intercepts his own delivery before it reaches the batter? The circumstances were sufficiently unusual that they eventually came to the attention of the MCC, the custodian of the Laws of Cricket since 1788.
From KGV to Lord’s: The MCC Takes Notice
Earlier this year, the MCC contacted Guernsey Cricket to request the original footage of the incident. Jonny Singer, the MCC’s Laws of Cricket Advisor, subsequently confirmed the significance of what had occurred, telling Guernsey Cricket that the clip had directly led to a change in the Laws.
The result is a new sentence in Law 21.9, which deals with a fielder intercepting a delivery before it reaches the striker. The new provision addresses the specific scenario of a bowler sending down a very high, looping ball and then intercepting it before the batter has an opportunity to play. The MCC determined that such an action should be regarded as a deliberate attempt to obstruct the batter, rather than simply resulting in a No Ball on the grounds that a fielder had intercepted the delivery. There is also a corresponding change to Law 41.4, which concerns deliberate attempts to distract or obstruct a batter receiving, or preparing to receive, a delivery.
The changes were announced by the MCC in February and come into effect in October 2026, according to Bailiwick Express.
Jersey and Guernsey: Teaching the World
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story is what happens next. The MCC has produced a narrated educational video using footage of the Guernsey versus Jersey incident as an example of why the change to the Laws was necessary. The MCC has advised Guernsey Cricket that this video is among a series being provided to the International Cricket Council for distribution to umpiring educators around the world.
That means a moment from a Channel Islands inter-insular fixture, the kind of match that might otherwise pass without notice beyond these shores, will now be watched by umpires internationally as they learn about the latest edition of the Laws of Cricket. For Jersey and Guernsey cricket, it is a contribution to the global game that no one could have anticipated when that delivery looped skyward at KGV.
The story is a reminder that cricket’s Laws continue to evolve at every level of the game, from Test matches at Lord’s to inter-insular fixtures in the Channel Islands. Unusual situations arise on cricket fields everywhere, and occasionally, one of them changes the game for everyone.
Source: Bailiwick Express
