Australia’s right-handed batsman Ashton Turner hit the roof of the Docklands Stadium in Melbourne to get six runs in a Big Bash League (BBL) match on Friday.
Batting for the Perth Scorchers, Turner became the first batsman to get an advantage of the new rule in the BBL. The 25-year-old smashed the first ball of the 12th over bowled by Melbourne Renegades’ all-rounder Daniel Christian, which went up straight to hit the roof of the stadium.
The umpire signalled a six despite the ball landing just outside the 30-yard circle after hitting the roof.
Even the commentators, Shane Warne and Brett Lee were left surprised with the rewarding rule. A startled Warne was heard saying: “Six and he can’t be out?”
Here’s the video:
The Docklands roof has been hit for the first time in #BBL08!
A @KFCAustralia 'Bucket Moment' and one that amused @RenegadesBBL veteran Cam White 😝 pic.twitter.com/88Ck9wC6vG
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 20, 2018
Turner later said that he was ‘lucky’ but also made it clear that the rule should be changed.
“I think it’s a pretty bad rule,” Turner told cricket.com.au. “It saved me tonight … I think it’s not fair.
“It should be a dead ball – you can’t predict whether they’re going to catch it, so there’s no fairer outcome than a dead ball.
“It’s a little bit different if you think it might have hit the roof over the boundary rope (but) it might be hard to detect where it’s actually (going to land) and if it’s going to go for six,” he added.
