Craig White leaned back picked his spot and saw the ball thread its way across the cover-boundary rope

Craig White leaned back, picked his spot and saw the ball thread its way across the cover-boundary rope. It was as confident a forcing shot through the covers as you are likely to see. Craig White leaned back, picked his spot and saw the ball thread its way across the cover-boundary rope.
England had won the match and the man known as Chalky had struck the winning four Except he hadn’t Hit the winning four, that is. Although the umpire, Rudi Koertzen, signalled the boundary and the scoreboard immediately responded, showing that the batsman’s score had increased to 24, it was all a mistake.White was the victim of the new laws of the game and he can thank (or otherwise) England’s official scorer, Malcolm Ashton, for their correct interpretation. No sooner had the players and officials left the field at Kandy last week than Ashton had to inform Koertzen that he was wrong.England went from 164 for 7 to 161 for 7, White from 24 not out to 21 not out Somehow, 21 runs seemed much fewer than 24. What Ashton spotted and what Koertzen overlooked is that White and Giles had completed a single before his shot reached the rope.Law 21 (6a) of the 2000 code makes it clear: “As soon as a result is reached.. the match is at an end. Nothing that happens thereafter shall be regarded as part of the match.” Had White and Giles dawdled, he would have had the four as stated in law 21 (6c).Ashton, on his sixth tour, is a keen-eyed upholder of laws and regulations.

He has had his skill in this regard tested to the limit this winter in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In Kandy, he spent most of the match watching proceedings through binoculars. This was in order to see them, so far away were the scorers from the action. Not that the former legal executive from Bolton is complaining.

“It beats sorting out wills and conveyancing,” he said.Tough board gamesLike so many of his compatriots, Thilanga Sumathipala is a charming chap with a ready smile. He is also president of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) and wreathed in controversy.When he was elected two years ago, the annual meeting was a fractious affair which was broken up by armed men. Sumathipala is due for re-election on 30 March and expects to be unopposed. Rumours were rife that his one-time friend and ally, Arjuna Ranatunga, erstwhile captain of the national side, would put up a candidate against Sumathipala. Since this was apparently to be the highly regarded Anura Bandaranaike, the parliamentary speaker and brother of the president, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, it might have been a close contest. Speaker and board presidentwere, however, roles impossible to combine.Sumathipala’s methods have frequently aroused adverse comment, partially because of his family bookmaking connections.