In cricket, contrived circumstances refer to tactics that are unusual, but were able to achieve an appropriate outcome. This would often result in abnormalities in its statistical data. Contrived circumstances are when a captain wishes to bring his team’s innings to a close voluntarily. When the captain bowls, he tends to do it poorly. Due to its unusual delivery, records that are results of contrived circumstances are not included in the official list of Wisden, colloquially the bible of cricket.
Reasons for Contrived Circumstances
One main reason for contrived circumstances is the belief of the captain that their team’s score has a large lead margin against their opponent to prevent defeat. As a result, the captain would deliberately cause poor bowling or delivery of the ball. The poor bowling allows the batsman to score more runs as quickly as he can. This would encourage the opposing team captain to put the innings to a close. Oftentimes, these contrived circumstances give the team a chance to win, particularly in a timed match.
Declaration as a Result of Contrived Circumstances
The unusual tactic of using contrived circumstances in a match can either yield positive results or negative results. A declaration is actually an intentional act of the captain to bring the innings to a close. The only reason is that the captain thinks that since their score is great enough, they are unable to get defeated. When the captain has deemed that his team has scored enough runs to win the game, he can use the contrived circumstances to bring out their opponent to play out for a draw.
Risks of Using Contrived Circumstances
There are always risks involved when a captain chooses to use contrived circumstances to win the match or play out the opposing team for a draw. The captain must ensure that when he uses this unusual maneuver, he must not consider declaring too early. Once a captain declares to early, it would lead to having the opposing team setting a very low target. Once this happens, the opposing team would make it easier for them to force a draw. Forcing out a draw prevents the match to be completed, thus the end result might not be for the team using contrived circumstances, but against them.
