Play delayed at MCG as third umpire gets stuck in lift: – The second session of the third day started late due to unusual conditions.
The second Test between Australia and Pakistan at the MCG led to a bizarre delay in play after third umpire Richard Illingworth got stuck in a lift.
After Thursday’s lunch break, the players returned to the middle just in time for the second session to begin at 1:25 pm.
However, in bizarre scenes, Illingworth was unable to return to his grandstand station, so both central umpires refused to bowl the ball.
Australian batsmen David Warner and Steven Smith had to wait for play to continue as the hosts could manage only 6 runs for 2 wickets in their second innings despite being ahead by 60 runs.
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Play resumed a few minutes later when the fourth umpire Phil Gillespie approached the third umpire’s box from the boundary. A few moments later, Illingworth arrived and sat down playfully.
The strange seven-minute delay led to humorous comments from both Cricket Australia and the MCG.
Using what was then known as Twitter, Cricket Australia’s social media division wrote on Twitter that the match had been delayed because the third umpire was “stuck in the lift.”
MCG immediately replied “Sorry.”
Channel Seven host Mel McLaughlin was in the lift when it got stuck and said it took him ten minutes to get out.
Later in the session, when Joel Wilson had to leave the field for an over, fourth umpire Gillespie was called upon to stand in the middle with Michael Gough, adding to his busy afternoon.