English county side creates controversy by having no wicket-keeper behind the stumps

There was a bizarre incident yesterday during the Natwest T20 Blast at Wantage Road as Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell asked wicketkeeper Ben Cox to remove his gloves and pads in order to field instead of keeping wickets.

This was during the 16th over of the innings which was bowled by the off-spinner Moeen Ali. This ploy was was done in order to have an extra fielder to stop the opposition who were on a rampage. The umpires after consulting among themselves allowed it since the move was well within the rules.

Steve Rhodes, the Worcestershire director of cricket, said that the team followed the same pattern as Indian Captain MS Dhoni who stood back to the spinners last year in England during the Test series. “In a game when you're trying to stop the opposition scoring, it's a legitimate tactic. One of the things I challenged the coaches in the winter to do, was to try and come up with some ideas that might just knock the opposition off their guard a little bit. It came about when I watched MS Dhoni stand back to the spinners for India and I thought that was a great idea. Afterwards, he said he wanted another catcher around the corner and he felt he could do that himself, standing back. That's how it started us thinking about it," he said.