The second Test match between Australia and Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground witnessed a bizarre incident that took the cricket fraternity by surprise. In an unexpected turn of events, the game saw a momentary delay at the stroke of the second session. The Australians were taken aback by the interruption and they were discussing between themselves to ascertain what was the actual cause of the delay.
Meanwhile, the on-field umpires namely Michael Gough and Joel Wilson were also involved in a brief interaction to know the reason behind the delay as well. However, upon knowing what happened behind the scenes, the officials later conveyed the message to the players that the start of the second session was delayed because the third umpire Richard Illingworth got stuck in the lift.
Third umpire Richard Illingworth fails to make it to the set-up on time
As we all know, the third umpire plays a paramount role in helping the on-field umpires in making decisions during the play. He is mainly responsible for overseeing the Decision Review System, including popular technologies like ball-tracking, UltraEdge and Hawk-Eye. Cricketers can challenge the on-field umpire’s decision and this is when a third umpire’s call will come into the picture.
The game is delayed because the third umpire … is stuck in the lift #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/eSuKyPQp56
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2023
The third umpire would review the call on the big screen and if he finds enough evidence, he will make a more accurate call. Since the third umpire got stuck in the lift, he failed to make it to the set-up on time, thereby causing a delay. Cricket.co.au took to X (previously known as Twitter) and posted the picture along with the reason, which reads “The game is delayed because the third umpire … is stuck in the lift #AUSvPAK.”
A wild Richard Illingworth appeared! #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/7Rsqci4whn
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2023
Thankfully, the third umpire did make it to the set-up somehow. As you can see in the video, the cameraman zoomed in on Illingworth as the latter just made it to the seat. The entire incident left the commentators in stitches as they were discussing the drama on air. The priceless moment was captured when the TV umpire Richard Illingworth himself was seen giggling for a few seconds.
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Australia are still in a good position with a healthy lead of 241 runs at the end of Day 3. The hosts scored 187/6 in 62.3 overs before the day’s play came to a close when Steve Smith fell prey to Shaheen Shah Afridi for 50 runs. Alex Carey is batting on 16 and Mitchell Starc will accompany him on Day 4. The Aussies will try their best to dictate the terms by adding more runs tomorrow to have a clear route map to winning the series.
