Wicket-keeper with one glove

An umpire who stood in two separate Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 (T20) matches in Mumbai recently stopped wicketkeepers in both games from keeping without a glove on their throwing hand during the final tense overs of an innings. Karnataka captain and wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa and Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik each removed one glove and tucked it into the back of their trousers, however, the umpire is said to have insisted that they have both gloves on before play was allowed to continue.

Both Uthappa and Karthik, who were standing behind the striker's wicket, are said to have argued with the umpire over the matter, but "eventually" complied with the umpire's instruction. An unnamed official in Mumbai, who did not wish to be named, told local journalists that "these things have been happening regularly in domestic cricket, especially in T20, and the matter should be referred to the Board of Control for Cricket in India so that consensus" is reached on how such issues should be dealt with.

Law 40.1 says in part that the wicket-keeper "is the only fielder permitted to wear gloves and external leg guards", but he can only do so if he is positioned behind the striker's wicket in what is regarded as the normal position for a keeper. Section 40.2 then goes on to describe the limits of the material that is used to join the thumb and index finger of the glove, however, it starts by indicating that a keeper does not have to wear gloves, the words used being "if as permitted under [40.1], the wicket-keeper wears gloves".

It is common practice for a wicket-keeper to discard the glove from his throwing hand when he moves from his position to field the ball. Just as there is nothing in the Laws to prevent his doing this, neither is there anything to prevent his wearing just one glove at other times.



Read more about Law 40 (The wicket-keeper) at the MCC website