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The second day of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 Final between South Africa and Australia witnessed a bizarre moment that threatened to reignite a “Spirit of Cricket” debate. South Africa’s David Bedingham, in an unusual handled-the-ball incident just before lunch, admitted he panicked when faced with an awkward situation involving Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
The controversial handling the ball moment involving David Bedingham
The incident unfolded in the final over before the lunch break at Lord’s. Bedingham, batting on 31, attempted to defend a delivery from Beau Webster off the back foot. The ball took an inside edge, deflected onto his pad flap, and hovered awkwardly in the air. Carey, alert and charging from behind the stumps, tried to collect it before it hit the ground.
In that split second, Bedingham instinctively reached down and tossed the ball away—an action that triggered a brief moment of uncertainty. Though the on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Chris Gaffaney, had already ruled the ball dead, the nature of Bedingham’s movement momentarily brought the rare “handled the ball” dismissal into the picture.
Speaking at the end of the day’s play, Bedingham admitted to losing his composure during the sequence, explaining that with Carey standing close and charging in, he instinctively picked up and dropped the ball in a way that may have looked suspicious. Although the umpires had already ruled it a dead ball, Bedingham acknowledged that his reaction could have been misinterpreted and expressed relief that nothing controversial resulted from the moment, as even his teammates advised him to stay calm and not react impulsively.
“Yeah, I think I panicked big time. Because Carey was standing up, he was quite close. The umpires said, regardless, it was dead ball. But I think the way I picked up the ball and dropped it came across a bit dodgy. I’m glad nothing happened out of it, really. The slip cordon just told me, ‘don’t panic, just leave it…’ but in the moment, I think I panicked big-time,” said Bedingham in the post-day presser.
What the laws say
Fraser Stewart, the MCC’s head of cricket and a former laws manager, stated the umpires made the “right decision for the game.” While a strict reading of Law 20.1.1 could suggest the ball wasn’t completely stationary, the law also notes a ball is considered dead if it becomes trapped between a batter’s bat and body or gets lodged in their clothing or equipment.
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, addressing the media post-play, downplayed the situation. While he confirmed the appeal was withdrawn, Cummins hinted that even if the umpires hadn’t intervened, he would likely have withdrawn it himself.
Notably, while handling the ball was once a standalone dismissal type, since 2017, it has been merged under “obstructing the field.” The most recent instance of this came in 2023, when Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim was given out for handling the ball against New Zealand in Mirpur. Before that, former England captain Michael Vaughan was among the few to have fallen to the unique dismissal.
Also WATCH: Pat Cummins’ stunning caught and bowled gets rid of Marco Jansen on Day 2 of WTC 2025 Final – SA vs AUS
