The switch hit is all drama, nothing legal or fair about it: Bhogle

I am overjoyed that the ICC is going to review the switch hit. As it stands, it is unfair and strikes at the sanctity of our sport which must seek to maintain a balance between bat and ball. The box office can take sides, things that look dramatic are always worth a view, but at heart the game must be fair to bat and ball. Well, if not in reality, at least in principle!

The batsmen will lobby for it as industry associations do for excise and tax laws that favour them. It is what they must do and they will argue on the grounds of skill and difficulty as Kevin Pietersen has done. They are correct in part. It is a shot that is fraught with risk and is difficult to play but it is neither legal nor fair. Running Ponzi schemes requires enormous intelligence and courage, as does forging passports, but they cannot be allowed on that ground.

Indeed, this week we saw a demonstration of skill by an outrageously talented young man that was breathtaking to watch. Steve Smith caught a ball on the edge of the boundary rope and tossed it in the air as he fell over and stumbled beyond the rope. Unfortunately for him, the ball followed him over and showing great presence of mind, Smith jumped in the air, scooped the ball with both feet airborne back into the playing area, landed beyond the rope and popped back in to catch the ball before it landed.

For sheer skill and difficulty, he should have been rewarded with the catch but the law doesn't allow it. It might seem cruel but is fair. On another day, a fielder might back pedal a few yards beyond the rope, jump in the air, catch the ball and throw it back into play, then either run back or let a team-mate catch it. The current provision, where the last contact with the ground has to be within the playing area, is fair for that reason.

... contd.

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