County Championship Division Two: Sussex’s Tom Haines falls while appealing for an LBW

Tom Haines is merely 20 years old and is trying to feature on a consistent basis in England’s domestic cricket. In the ongoing County Championship, he is plying his trade for Sussex. The youngster has racked up 127 runs at an average of 15.87 and has also picked up four wickets. Sussex last played against Middlesex and won the game comfortably by seven wickets at the County Ground in Hove.

During the game, Haines became a stock of laughter for his teammates in a rather hilarious situation. In a video going viral on social media, he made a complete mockery of himself. The pacer ran in and bowled an in-swinger to batsman James Harris. The batsman missed the ball completely.

The ball struck the batter on his left leg and the bowler went up in appeal immediately. However, while making the appeal for the Leg Before Wicket (LBW), he stumbled and fell over. He couldn’t hold on to his balance in the heat of the moment. His mates around him then burst into laughter.

Here is the video:

This appeal fell flat… 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/jNU27ib5zd

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) August 20, 2019

Comprehensive win for Sussex

As far as Sussex is concerned, their journey hasn’t been a smooth ride by any stretch of the imagination. Coming into the contest, the team captained by Ben Brown, had lost three matches in a row. Quite expectantly, the team was short on confidence. But after winning the toss and electing to bowl first, they bowled Middlesex out for a rather paltry 75 in a mere 21.4 overs.

Fast bowler Ollie Robinson wreaked havoc, picking up eight wickets. In the second innings, Luke Wells, Alex Carey and Will Beer scored half-centuries and helped Sussex get a massive lead of 234 runs. In the second innings, Robinson again stood out as he picked up as many as six wickets. For Middlesex, wicketkeeper John Simpson put up some fight and took his team to 378.

The target of 145 wasn’t expected to be a hard grind for Sussex. But they lost early wickets of Philip Salt, Haines and Harry Finch to get pushed on the backfoot. Nevertheless, Carey scored 69 to take his team home. Wells gave him the apt support, having scored 48 in a 101-run stand with Carey.

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