Jacob Bethell will be prevented from bowling at the scene of his career-best performance – because of the wound on his left hand.
England would like to be able to use Bethell’s slow left-armers in the Super Eight clash with Sri Lanka at Pallekele on Sunday, less than three weeks since his figures of four for 11 condemned the Twenty20 World Cup co-hosts to whitewash-sealing defeat.
Spin was instrumental in that 3-0 series win and is likely to be so again on the same pitch that Australia defeated Oman on Friday night, so with Will Jacks leaking 14 runs per over in the tournament to date, England will ask match officials Adrian Holdstock and Ahsan Raza to permit Bethell, sporting a protective dressing on the left ring finger he damaged fielding against West Indies, to bowl.
However, as in last week’s matches against Scotland and Italy, they expect the request to fall on deaf ears.
Tournament regulations state ‘protection for the hand or fingers may be worn only with the consent of the umpires’.
England captain Harry Brook confirmed: ‘The rule with the strapping on your finger isn’t quite helping because he’s got a decent cut on his finger so he’d have to have strapping.
England expect Jacob Bethell will not be allowed to bowl against Sri Lanka at the World Cup
‘If there’s some way we can get around that then we’d like to bowl him. But at the minute, I don’t think it’s possible.’
Accepted practice in international white-ball cricket is for fielders to be allowed to have tape on their hands, but not bowlers as it is viewed as providing an unfair advantage in gripping the ball or causing visibility issues for batsmen.
At last year’s Champions Trophy, India’s Ravindra Jadeja was instructed to remove tape from his bowling hand when called into the attack.
One exception to the unwritten rule came in 2023 when England’s Reece Topley’s hand was patched up following an in-game injury against South Africa and was therefore allowed to return to bowl later in the innings, at the discretion of the umpires.
England have been clunky in the competition so far, but have won 11 in a row against the Sri Lankans in this format, three of them here in Pallekele recently.
‘We can take a lot of confidence having played here and that experience on this surface and this ground. We’re looking forward to the crowd as well,’ Brook said.
A hand injury means that he has to wear tape. Umpires will decide if he can bowl
However, the outfield has deteriorated rapidly over the past few weeks, with several bare patches developing and other areas spongy due to regular rainfall here.
The weather forecast on Sunday threatens a reduced-overs contest, or potentially complete washout, and Brook has discussed all possibilities with his squad as they begin the second stage.
‘You just have to prepare as if it is a T20. You can sometimes go down a bit of a rabbit hole thinking you’re going to play a five-over game and it ends up being a T20 and you play it slightly differently,’ he said.
‘We’ve just got to prepare as if it is a T20 game and hope the rain stays away. If it doesn’t, we’ve got to adapt and realise you’ve got to play the game slightly differently.’
For a result to occur in the Super Eight stage, each team must have been able to face a minimum of five overs.
