Watch: Chris Woakes turns spinner mid-over on umpires’ orders, Ben Stokes left shocked

A bizarre incident involving the 35-year-old England National Cricket Team all-rounder Chris Woakes took place on Day 2 of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kennington Oval in London on Saturday, September 7.

Chris Woakes was handed the ball to bowl the 7th over of the innings, and with four slips and a gully in place, he bowled a full-length delivery to Pathum Nissanka, who defended the first delivery for no run.

On the next ball, Chris Woakes bowled a length delivery on off-stump and Pathum Nissanka pushed it into the off-side and ran for a single. The ball went straight to Olly Stone at the cover, and Karunaratne, who was running towards the keeper's end, was caught short of the crease as a direct hit from Stone sent him back to the pavilion.

Then, the umpires brought out the light meter to check the light and found out that it was too dark for the pacer to operate.

According to Law 2.7.1, which pertains to bad light and other weather-related issues, "it is solely for the umpires together to decide whether either conditions of ground, weather or light or exceptional circumstances mean that it would be dangerous or unreasonable for play to take place". Meanwhile, the law subsequently adds: "Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal."

According to rules, “a bowler shall finish an over in progress unless incapacitated or suspended”, meaning that Chris Woakes had two options - first, leave the field, and second, turn into a spinner temporarily. The veteran all-rounder chose the latter option as he was in no mood to step outside.

He agreed to bowl off-spin and started operating with two slips, a leg slip, and a short leg in place. Woakes bowled the next four balls as an off-spinner and conceded 6 runs, including a four. Just after Chris Woakes' over, things got normal and pacers were allowed to operate again

Looking at all these things happening in the middle England red-ball captain Ben Stokes was absolutely shocked as he gave a stunned reaction from the dressing room while spin-bowling coach Jeetan Patel watched the happenings nervously. Also, Joe Root was left in splits seeing Chris Woakes bowl spin.

Watch: Chris Woakes Bowls Off-Spin vs Sri Lanka

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING! ⚠️

Bad light means Chris Woakes is bowling spin 😆 pic.twitter.com/TPYSnwXiEN

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 7, 2024

Ben Stokes’ reaction is EVERYTHING 🤣 https://t.co/7aitluKT5O pic.twitter.com/OgMyMuJKyQ

— England's Barmy Army 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) September 7, 2024

Meanwhile, speaking on BBC Test Match Special, former England spinner Phil Tufnell labeled the decision of umpires to force Woakes into bowling off-spin as “mind-blowingly poor”.

“This is a bad look for Test cricket,” he said. “It's ridiculous. I've actually got to squint to see, that's how bright it is. I'm completely bewildered by this.”

Notably, bad light has been a major issue in the ongoing Test series between England and Sri Lanka and the likes of Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain have been very critical of it.

"It’s about the public who pay to watch. Test cricket is under threat more than any format. If this was a T20 they’d be playing. I’d try anything to find a way for the paying public to get better value," Michael Vaughan had said on Day 1.

"What delivery have we seen in the last 15 minutes that has been a physical threat? You go to a pink ball and carry on. Teams will have to accept they get unlucky. All these ideas, you’re not going to appease everyone. I just want to see them carry on," Vaughan added.