“He’s holding his bat out, he can’t do that,” the match commentator said during the broadcast.“Temoor Alam, you’ve got to walk, you cannot do that. Off you go, sir.”Issues of dissent towards officials were made a priority by the tournament’s committee, the commentator explained.“It’s how you judge dissent. I think that’s a clear example, folks, and he carried on walking, Temoor Alam, right down to the other end gesticulating to his bat and pointing at umpire Danny Singh.”After a 15-minute delay the matter was resolved and the decision overturned, with the commentator apologising to viewers.“The decision has been reversed. Not out. Well, 15 minutes or so that took, folks, and apologies for me ranting and raving on, but I will guarantee you it’s not the last we’ve heard of this.”Alam was dismissed after scoring 10 more runs, with his contribution helping England reach 167-7 and beat India by eight runs.The Daily Mail reported that people close to the tournament and who were at the match described Alam’s actions as “an absolute disgrace” and “a blemish on our great game”.Another person reportedly said it was the “single worst incident I have ever experienced in decades of cricket”.The England Over-60 team attempted to address it and said it was being investigated.“The video stream and commentary showed a narrow perspective of the incident, meaning important moments were not seen,” it said.“As you would expect, the incident is being fully investigated, and England Cricket Seniors will publish a full explanation as soon as possible.“In the meantime, please accept that there were many things at play at the time, and so please avoid jumping to conclusions without the full facts. Thank you.”New Zealand will play England on August 24 at 2am NZT.This controversy comes weeks after an alleged cheating scandal in England’s northeast, where cricketer Brian Devine, dubbed “Clicky Ponting”, was supposedly seen clicking his fingers to trick umpires into believing a ball had been edged off the bat.The North Yorkshire and South Durham League announced they would investigate Saltburn Cricket Club over the claims and the action received widespread condemnation from the English cricket community.Statistics from the season show Saltburn’s wicketkeeper had made 31 catches in his eight matches before the controversy, including eight in one innings, with some suggesting the clicking tactic could have contributed to these figures.
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