Mitchell Marsh collects ball from parking lot after Sam Billings hits a massive six
With no fans in the stadium and the number of ground personnel being reduced, cricketers are facing a new problem. The game has been hit with sudden pauses as fielders are now required to fetch the ball from the empty and distant stands.
However, in the first ODI played between England and Australia in Manchester, Australia’s Mitchell Marsh had to take a long walk to the parking lot to fetch the ball.
The incident took place after the final delivery of the 27th over, as a bouncer from Pat Cummins took the top-edge of Sam Billings bat and flew for a six. After bouncing in the gaps between the stands the ball rolled towards the parking lot outside stands.
A similar incident was witnessed in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL) when in the opening match, fielders were seen racing back to the empty and distant stands to fetch the ball.
What happened in the match?
However, Mitchell Marsh was splendid with the bat scoring an important 73 off 100 balls and helping Australia post a challenging 294/9 on the board.
Marsh along with Glenn Maxwell stitched a crucial 126-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
In response, the hosts suffered a poor start with England hanging at 57/4 with Josh Hazlewood doing the early damage. Jonny Bairstow and Sam Billings did produce a fight back, but the hosts fell 19 runs short from winning the contest.
