Renshaw cops rare five-run penalty

Matthew Renshaw continued his sparkling form and set up a stunning victory for Queensland in the JLT Sheffield Shield at the Gabba on Friday, but there was one unusual blight on the opener's otherwise perfect copybook. 

As the Bulls pushed for victory against the Warriors, wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson threw one of his gloves on the turf as he chased a ball towards square leg. Fielding at first slip, Renshaw picked the glove up off the ground and placed it on his hand before collecting Peirson's throw, handing the ball to a teammate and giving the glove back to his keeper as the players resumed their positions.

But eagle-eyed umpires John Ward and Phillip Gillespie noticed Renshaw's actions – as innocuous and harmless as they were – actually constituted a breach of the rules.

Rule 27.1 of the Laws of Cricket states that "a wicketkeeper is the only fielder permitted to wear gloves" and as such, the Warriors were awarded five penalty runs.

"The glove dropped right next to me so I thought it'd be quite funny to put the glove on and try and take a catch with the glove on," a sheepish Renshaw told cricket.com.au after play.

"I didn't really think of the rule at the time, I just thought it'd be quite funny. But the umpires came together and said it was five penalty runs.

"I know that you're not supposed to do it, but I thought it was just one of those frowned upon things."

While Renshaw was willing to laugh about the incident after his side completed a 211-run win that all but secured them a home Shield final, he admits he might have reacted differently had the match been in the balance.

"Thankfully it wasn't a close match because if it was, (coach) Wade Seccombe might not have let me back in the rooms," he added.

It's the second time this season that a Bulls player has been penalised five runs for an unusual breach of the Laws of Cricket.

In October, Marnus Labuschagne became the first player to fall foul of the new regulations that penalise 'fake fielding'. In a JLT One-Day Cup game, Labuschagne dived to field a ball and although he failed to stop the ball, he leapt to his feet and shaped to throw in an effort to mislead the batsmen.

The rule against "intentionally deceiving or distracting a batsman" had only been introduced in the weeks prior and the Bulls were hit with a five-run penalty.

On Friday, Renshaw initially feared his playful actions may have cost more than five runs.

"We actually weren't sure if that was a reportable offence," he said. "It's not. It's similar to the fake fielding that we had at the start of the year."

The 21-year-old added he was happy to put the incident down as a learning experience, his second such moment in as many weeks.

"I'm going to learn a lot more rules in my cricket career, probably," he said.

"I learnt one last week that you can't warm up bowling parallel to the wicket. I found that one quite interesting."