Fast bowler in disbelief after bizarre cricket anomaly

England's County Championship cricket has played host to one of the more bizarre scenes in recent memory, in an incident that left a fast bowler and his teammates scratching their heads in disbelief.

Essex seamer Sam Cook was convinced he'd clean-bowled Yorkshire’s Harry Duke when the ball beat the outside of the bat and hit the side of the off-stump.

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With Yorkshire in command at 6/433 on day four of the match in Chelmsford, Cook and his teammates celebrated what they thought was a hard-fought breakthrough.

The only problem was, the ball failed to remove the bail off the stumps, leaving the Essex players bewildered.

Cook initially thought he'd removed Duke caught behind, after the ball deviated away from the batsman and was snaffled by wicketkeeper Adam Rossington behind the stumps.

However, the umpire soon revealed what replays also showed - that the ball had struck and wobbled the outside of Duke's off-stump, without actually dislodging the bail.

Cook and his teammates could be seen with their hands on their heads staring at the stubborn bail in shock, as Duke lived to fight another day.

However, the batsman was soon removed for 12 by spinner Simon Harmer, with Yorkshire eventually bowled out for 465 as the match ended in a draw.

Incident brings back memories of Ben Stokes Ashes drama

The crazy incident brought back memories of the 2021/22 Ashes series when Aussie allrounder Cam Green thought he's removed England danger man Ben Stokes during the New Year's Test at the SCG.

Green steamed in and sent down a delivery that replays showed rattled Stokes' off-stump, but failed to dislodge the bail.

The late Shane Warne was left stunned in the commentary box in the time after umpire Paul Reiffel gave it out before Stokes successfully challenged the decision.

"Never seen anything quite like that," he said at the time.

“What‘s he given it out on? How bizarre was that?”

“Paul Reiffel was a bowler and he‘s seen it hit the stumps and said, ’you’re out’.

“That‘s one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen given out, for the ball hitting the stumps and the bails didn’t come off ... I‘m sorry, I’m still in shock. I’m still not sure what we just saw.”

Stokes made the most of the reprieve to go on to make 66 for England in the first innings of the drawn Test.

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