Bird strike

A bird strike is, perhaps, less important in the context of a cricket match than it would be if it occurred to an aircraft in flight, though for the bird at least, the result may be equally unwelcome. The question occasionally arises as to what the cricketing situation is; does the ball (like the bird?) become dead; can runs be scored; can a batsman be out?

Law 19 deals with boundaries, their definition and how many runs might result. It also places on the umpires a responsibility to sort certain problems out before they happen. Before the toss not only must the umpires agree with the captains about what constitutes the boundary of the field of play and how many runs are to be allowed for the scoring of boundaries, they must also decide what to do about obstacles within the playing area. Perhaps the village pub sign is just inside the field of play, or there is a tree some yards in from the boundary. An obstacle within the field of play is not regarded as a boundary unless before the toss the umpires have decided that it shall be. It is their decision, though they may want first to talk to the home captain to establish what the local custom is. At any rate, when the match starts, everyone should know what the situation is and there should be no cause for disagreement later.

A bird strike is unintentional (a wilful intervention by a spectator is something that we will perhaps discuss on some other occasion) – the striker or fielder would need to be very skilful and a little odd to want to ‘score’ a deliberate hit and the bird would have to be even more bird-brained than normal deliberately to fly into the path of the ball. What can then result depends on what provision the umpires have made. Unless they had decided to treat this situation differently, the ball remains in play, runs can be scored and a batsman can be dismissed.

The umpire, by the way, is also ‘an obstacle’ within the boundary. Unless it lodges in his clothing, a ball in play, on striking the umpire, remains in play – unless he is seriously injured by it and his colleague calls Dead ball.